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^PRESID. 


THE  WORKING 


OF  THE 


BOSTON  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


/  print  and  circulate  this  pamphlet  with  the  hope  that  those 
who  receive  it  will  read  it,  or  pass  it  to  some  one  who  may  wish  to 
read  it.  It  deals  with  the  working  oj  an  Educational  institution 
of  great  value  to  all  the  people  of  the  City  and  of  the  Common- 
wealth, and  as  to  which  they  ought  to  have  the  most  full  informa- 
tion possible. 

J.  H.  BENTON, 

Public  Library,  Boston. 


BOSTON 

The  Rockwell  akd   Churchill   Press 

1914 


THE  WORKING 


OF  THE 


BOSTON  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


BY 

JOSIAH  H.  BENTON,  LL.D. 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  LIBRARY  TRUSTEES 


REVISED  EDITION.   1914 


BOSTON 

The   Rockwell   and   Churchill   Press 

1914 


"  A  good  hook  is  the  precious  life-blood  of  a 
master-spirit,  embalmed  and  treasured  tip  on 
purpose  to  a  life  beyond  life." 

—  Milton. 


THE  WORKING  OF  THE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 
OF  THE  CITY  OF  BOSTON. 

e^        e^        e^ 

THE  people  of  Boston  have  always  been  fond  of 
reading.  One  of  the  pnrposes  of  the  original 
Boston  Town  House,  built  in  1657  on  the  present  site 
of  the  Old  State  House,  was  a  free  circulating  public 
library.  Such  a  library,  the  first  of  its  kind  in  Amer- 
ica, was  maintained  in  the  building  until  its  destruction 
by  fire  in  1711,  and  attempts  appeal'  to  have  been 
made  to  continue  the  maintenance  of  a  library  in  the 
old  State  House  until  its  substantial  destruction  by 
fire  in  ]747.  From  that  time,  however,  there  was  no 
free  public  circulating  library  in  Boston  until  the 
present  Public  Library  was  opened  on  May  2,  1851:, 
in  two  small  rooms,  also  used  for  other  municipal 
purpose,  on  Mason  street. 

The  Library  then  had  less  than  ten  thousand  vol- 
umes, mostly  acquired  by  gift,  and  its  entire  expense 
for  the  first  year  was  |13,838.07,  of  which  |6,247.30 
was  for  books.  It  has  grown  to  its  present  condition 
where  its  annual  expenses  are  $426,381.68  mainly  by 
taxes  willingly  paid  by  the  people,  and  is  therefore 
peculiarly  a  Library  made  and  maintained  by  the  people 
for  the  people. 

The   Library   has   developed  into   a  library  system 


,[2] 
which  is  not  only  a  collection  of  books,  maps,  manu- 
scripts, and  other  literary  material  unequalled,  in  some 
respects  at  least,  by  any  of  the  great  Libraries  of  the 
world,  but  is  also  a  large,  complicated,  and  delicate 
business  machine.  Its  proper  management  not  only 
requires  wide  literary  knowledge  and  sound  scholar- 
ship, but  also  excellent  executive,  business,  and  admin- 
istrative ability.  The  conduct  of  its  business  involves 
the  disbursement  for  books,  supplies,  transportation, 
salaries  and  other  expenses,  many  very  small  in  amount, 
of  about  $35,000  every  thirty  days. 

It  is  in  charge  of  five  Trustees  appointed  by  the 
Mayor  and  approved  by  the  State  Civil  Service  Com- 
mission to  serve  without  compensation  for  terms  of  five 
years. 

A  special  statute  law  of  the  Commonwealth  con- 
stitutes the  Trustees  a  corporation,  with  authority  to 
take  and  hold  real  and  personal  estate  which  may  be 
given  to  it  and  accepted  by  the  Trustees  for  the  benefit 
of  the  Library  or  any  branch  thereof,  or  for  any  pur- 
pose connected  therewith.  This  law  also  requires  the 
Trustees  to  have  the  general  care  and  control  of  the 
Central  Public  Library  and  of  all  its  branches,  and  of 
all  the  expenditures  of  money  appropriated  therefor, 
and  authorizes  them  to  appoint  a  librarian  and  other 
officers  and  employees  and  to  fix  their  compensation. 

I  desire  to  tell  about  the  working  of  the  Libiary 
system,  and  to  do  this  I  must  explain  what  the  system 
is.  What  is  it  as  a  physical  thing,  simply  as  real  and 
personal  property? 


[3] 


LIBRARY   REAL   ESTATE. 

As  real  estate  the  Library  consists  of  thirty  pieces 
of  land  and  buildings  or  parts  of  buildings  in  different 
parts  of  the  City,  of  an  aggregate  value  of  about  four 
and  a  half  million  dollars.  The  Central  Library  build- 
ing has  cost  up  to  the  present  time,  exclusive  of  the 
land  upon  which  it  stands,  $2,762,38475. 

The  City  also  owns  thirteen  other  pieces  of  real  estate 
occupied  either  wholly  or  in  part  for  library  purposes, 
and  the  other  buildings  or  parts  of  buildings  occupied 
for  library  purposes  are  leased  at  an  annual  rental  of 
$16,500.  Li  addition  to  rental  paid  for  these  leased 
premises,  sums  which  in  the  aggregate  are  large  have 
been  paid  for  the  necessary  and  proper  adaptation  of 
the  premises  to  library  uses. 

The  floor  area  in  daily  use  in  these  premises  amounts 
to  304,000  square  feet,  or  nearly  six  acres.  All  these 
different  buildings  and  premises  must  be  kept  in  repair, 
cleaned,  policed,  heated,  lighted  and  maintained  in 
proper  condition  for  library  use.  The  care  of  the 
Central  Library  building  alone  comprises  the  protec- 
tion, repair,  cleaning,  lighting,  heating  and  mainte- 
nance of  a  building  which  covers  65,000  square  feet  of 
land,  and  has  a  floor  area  in  daily  use  of  150,000 
square  feet. 

This  building  is  also  a  beautiful  architectural  monu- 
ment, and  as  such  has  given  distinction  to  the  City,  and 
attracts  visitors  from  every  part  of  the  world.  It  con- 
tains fine  statuary,  valuable  marbles,  expensive  wood- 


[4] 
work,  and  elaborate  and  unique  decorations,  all  of 
which  must  be  at  all  times  carefully  guarded  and  pro- 
tected and  suitably  maintained.  It  contains  among 
other  machinery  and  appliances  a  heating,  lighting, 
ventilating  and  electric  power  plant  with  three  100- 
horse-power  boilers  and  two  tandem  compound  engines 
of  150-horse-power  each;  also  two  dynamos  with 
capacity  for  3,600  sixteen  candle-power,  110  volt  elec- 
tric lamps;  eight  pumps;  four  ventilating  fans;  eight 
electric  motors  with  capacity  of  from  2  to  20-horse- 
power  each;  two  passenger  elevators;  ten  electric  book- 
lifts;  a  vacuum  cleaning  apparatus  with  piping  so 
arranged  that  all  the  books  on  any  floor  can  be  cleaned 
by  the  use  of  it. 

The  building  is  also  equipped  with  a  pneumatic  tube 
and  electric  carrier  system  for  the  transmission  of  call 
slips  for  books  between  the  different  departments  and 
the  book  stacks,  and  of  books  between  the  stacks  and 
the  different  departments.  It  has  seating  capacity  for 
about  900  readers  and  a  lecture  room  which  will  seat 
500  persons. 

The  operation  of  this  building  alone  requires  about 
sixteen  hundred  tons  of  coal  annually,  and  current  is 
supplied  by  its  dynamos  for  nearly  4,000  electric  lamps. 

Its  care  and  operation  require  the  constant  service  of 
a  force  of  engineers  and  firemen,  janitors,  and  watch- 
men, and  a  carpenter,  painter,  expert  electrician,  and  a 
marble  cleaner. 

The  ordinary  daily  cleaning  of  the  building  requires 
a  force  of  a  matron  and  twenty  scrub-women,  whose 


work  must  be  done  at  hours  which  will  not  interfere 
with  the  use  of  the  building  by  the  public.  They  work 
from  six  until  nine  in  the  morning  and  on  Saturday 
evenings  from  five  o'clock  until  eleven,  and  render  an 
annual  service  in  this  work  of  about  20,000  hours. 

Such  is  the  library  system  considered  only  as  real 
estate. 

LIBRARY   PERSONAL    PROPERTY. 

As  personal  property  the  Library  is  primarily  a  col- 
lection of  more  than  one  million  volumes  of  books, 
accurately  speaking  1,067,103,  of  which  813,533  are  in 
the  Central  Library  and  253,570  are  in  the  various 
Branches  and  Reading  Rooms.  The  principal  Branches 
are  considerable  libraries  in  themselves,  the  nine  largest 
Branches  having  an  average  of  over  20,000  volumes 
each. 

There  are  also  in  the  Central  Library  about  35,000 
separate  manuscripts  and  about  150  volumes  of  manu- 
script books,  over  200  atlases,  about  ten  thousand 
maps,  and  over  forty  thousand  photographs,  prints, 
engravings  and  other  pictures,  and  4,400  lantern  slides. 

Each  branch  has  also  its  own  collection  of  photo- 
graphs and  pictures  varying  in  number  from  1,000  to 
2,000,  in  all  about  30,000. 

The  catalogues  of  this  collection  comprise  3,500,000 
separate  cards,  and  the  cases  containing  them  placed 
end  to  end  would  extend  about  a  mile. 

]Nineteen  different  card  catalogues,  containing  about 
three  million  cards  are  necessary  for   the  working  of 


[6] 
the  material  of  the  Central  Library,  and  fifteen  sepa- 
rate card  catalogues,  containing  450,000  cards  are 
employed  in  working  the  collections  in  the  different 
Branches  and  Reading  Rooms.  The  shelves  required 
for  the  books  in  the  Central  Library  and  Branches 
would  extend  a  distance  of  over  twenty  miles. 

The  Library  also  has  a  printing  office,  employing 
seven  persons,  where  an  average  of  over  200,000  cata- 
logue cards,  half  a  million  forms,  nearly  two  million 
call  slips  for  the  use  of  books,  and  the  various  weekly 
lists  of  new  books,  quarterly  bulletins,  finding  lists, 
and  other  publications,  amounting  annually  to  about 
70,000  copies,  are  printed,  for  distribution  among  the 
people;  and  a  bindery  employing  twenty-nine  persons, 
where  photographs  and  engravings  are  mounted,  vol- 
umes repaired,  periodicals  stitched,  library  publications 
prepared  for  use,  and  about  30,000  volumes  annually 
bound. 

There  are  also  about  375  different  newspapers  and 
nearly  1,700  different  periodicals  in  daily  use  in  the 
Central  Library  and  the  Branches.  There  are  many 
valuable  paintings,  photographs,  busts  of  distinguished 
persons,  and  statuary,  mainly,  but  not  entirely,  con- 
tained in  the  Central  building. 

The  aggregate  commercial  value  of  this  personal 
property  is  more  than  three  million  dollars,  and  much 
of  it  is  unique,  so  that  if  destroyed  or  sold  it  could  not 
possibly  be  replaced.  Much  of  the  most  valuable  of 
this  personal  property  has  been  freely  given  to  the 
Library. 


[7] 

In  1873  the  Library  had  209,466  volumes,  of  which 
92,333  had  been  given  to  it,  and  although  the  gifts 
since  that  time  have  not  been  proportionately  as  large, 
they  have  been  constant,  and  in  many  cases  large  in 
amount  and  of  great  value. 

There  are  24  different  special  collections  of  books, 
manuscripts,  and  engravings,  varying  in  number  from 
129  to  14,888  titles,  substantially  all  of  which  have  been 
given  to  the  Library  with  varying  conditions  as  to 
their  care  and  use.  It  is,  perhaps,  not  invidious  to 
mention  among  them  the  almost  priceless  collection  of 
Shakespeariana,  the  famous  Prince  collection  of  rare 
early  Americana,  the  unique  Chamberlain  collection  of 
manuscripts,  and  the  Theodore  Parker  library  contain- 
ing rare  and  valuable  books  in  forty  different  languages 
and  dialects. 

One  of  the  Chamberlain  manuscripts  is  in  the  hand- 
writing of  Governor  Bradford  and  is  signed  by  him 
and  by  four  other  persons  who  came  over  in  the  May- 
flower, including  John  Alden  and  Miles  Standish. 

TOTAL    VALUE    OF   LIBRARY   PROPERTY. 

The  aggregate  commercial  value  of  the  real  and  per- 
sonal property  devoted  to  free  public  library  purposes 
in  the  City  of  Boston  is  at  least  seven  and  a  half  million 
dollars,  and  in  addition  to  this,  gifts  have  been  made 
by  thirty-five  different  persons  or  societies,  in  sums 
varying  from  |100  to  |100,000  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Library  and  its  Branches  to  the   amount  of  $450,000, 


[8] 

making  an  aggregate  amount  of  property  of  at  least 
$8,000,000  employed  in  the  library  work  of  the  City. 

COMPARATIVE    VALUE    OF   LIBRARY   PROPERTY. 

In  1905,  the  latest  date  available  for  comparison, 
Boston,  with  less  than  one-half  the  population  of  all 
the  other  32  cities  in  the  Commonwealth  combined,  had 
approximately  twice  as  much  money  invested  in  public 
library  property  as  all  the  other  cities  combined.  It 
had  29  3/10  per  cent  of  the  population  of  the  33  cities, 
and  the  other  32  cities  have  70  7/10  per  cent,  that  is, 
there  were  about  seven  persons  in  the  other  32  cities 
combined  as  against  about  three  persons  in  Boston. 
But  Boston  has  about  $60.43  invested  in  its  public 
library  property  as  against  about  $39.57  invested  in 
similar  property  in  all  the  other  32  cities  combined. 

Stated  in  another  form,  the  comparison  is  this :  Bos- 
ton had  41  5/10  per  cent  of  the  entire  population  in  all 
the  other  32  cities,  while  the  amount  invested  in  public 
library  property  in  these  32  cities  was  only  65  5/10  per 
cent  of  the  amount  invested  in  public  library  property 
in  Boston  alone.  That  is,  with  a  population  only  four- 
tenths  as  large  as  the  combined  population  of  the  other 
32  cities,  Boston  put  to  the  use  of  its  public  library 
system  property  nearly  4/10  greater  in  value  than  all 
property  put  to  similar  uses  in  the  other  32  cities  com- 
bined. 

If  we  compare  the  value  of  the  public  library  prop- 
erty of  Boston  with  the  value  of  such  property  in  all 
the  other  cities  and  towns  in  the  Commonwealth,  we 


[9] 

find  that  with  a  population  of  19  8/10  per  cent  of  the 
entire  population  of  all  the  other  cities  and  towns,  Bos- 
ton had  public  library  property  of  71  1/10  per  cent  of 
the  value  of  all  such  property  in  all  the  other  cities  and 
towns  in  the  Commonwealth. 

ADDITIONS    TO    THE    LIBRARY. 

From  35,000  to  40,000  volumes  are  added  to  the 
Library  collection  each  year.  During  the  last  year, 
1912-1913,  the  number  was  37,606.  Of  this  27,316 
were  purchased  by,  and  6,855  were  given  to  the  Library, 
and  the  remainder  were  received  by  exchange,  binding 
of  periodicals  into  volumes,  etc.  ;  11,860  volumes  were 
purchased  for  the  Central  Library,  and  15,166  for  the 
Branch  Libraries  and  Reading  Rooms. 

The  total  amount  expended  for  books,  including 
$7,452.72  for  periodicals  and  f 2,000  for  newspapers 
and  $823.36  for  photographs,  was  $49,094.70,  or  12  3/10 
per  cent  of  the  entire  expenses  of  the  Library  for  all 
purposes. 

The  average  cost  of  all  books  purchased  was  $1.42 
per  volume.  Of  these  22,445  were  bought  from  money 
appropriated  by  the  City  at  an  average  cost  of  $1.02  a 
volume,  and  4,871  were  bought  with  the  income  of 
Trust  funds  at  an  average  cost  of  $3.23  a  volume. 
Among  the  more  expensive  books  purchased  lately  is  a 
rare  edition  of  Ptolemy's  Cosmography,  Ulm,  1482, 
for  $390  ;  The  Grimani  Breviary,  13  volumes,  with 
reproductions  in  gold  and  colors  of  the  famous  miniature 
paintings,  for  $500  ;  The  l^orth  American  Indians  by 


[10] 

E.  S.  Curtis,  eight  volumes  of  a  series  of  twenty  vol- 
umes, which  will  ultimately  cost  about  $3,000. 

The  most  expensive  books  increase  in  value  with  the 
lapse  of  time,  and  most  of  the  less  expensive  rapidly 
wear  out  with  use  or  become  of  less  value  from  the 
issue  of  other  books  on  the  same  subjects.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  about  150,000  of  the  books  in  the  Library 
are  not  worth  commercially  more  than  ten  cents 
apiece. 

Books  are  purchased  only  by  vote  of  the  Trustees, 
and  at  prices  fixed  by  the  vote.  The  titles  of  the 
books  recommended  for  purchase  by  the  Librarian  are 
put  upon  cards  and  submitted  to  a  Committee  of  two 
of  the  Trustees  weekly.  A  list  of  the  titles  and  prices 
of  books  which  that  Committee  recommend  for  pur- 
chase is  then  made,  and  copies  of  it  sent  to  each  of  the 
Trustees  at  least  two  days  before  their  weekly  meeting. 
This  list  as  revised  and  voted  by  the  Trustees  is  sent  to 
the  Ordering  Department  as  authority  for  the  purchase 
of  the  books.  Duplicate  bills  of  the  books  are  required 
to  be  sent  to  that  department  with  the  books ;  one  bill 
is  filed  at  the  City  Hall,  as  required  by  law,  and  the 
other  entered  alphabetically  by  the  Ordering  Depart- 
ment in  its  bill  book  with  the  entry  date  and  alphabeti- 
cal designation  recorded  on  the  bill  and  on  the  reverse 
of  the  title-page  of  each  book  charged  in  the  bill,  by 
which  the  book  can  always  be  traced  from  the  bill  and 
the  bill  from  the  book.  The  book  is  then  examined, 
page  by  page  and  plate  by  plate,  to  see  if  it  is  perfect, 
the  book-plate  of  the  Library  pasted  in  and  the  original 


[11] 

card  upon  which  its  title  was  written  placed  in  the 
book,  and  it  is  sent  to  the  Catalogue  Department. 
This  bill  is  certified  by  the  Ordering  Department  as 
correct  and  sent  to  the  Library  Auditor,  by  whom  it  is 
compared  with  the  list  and  price  voted  by  the  Trustees, 
entered  and  audited  for  payment,  and  finally  returned 
to  the  Ordering  Department,  where  it  receives  a  file 
number  and  remains  on  file. 

METHOD    OF    WORKING    THE    LIBRARY. 

Such  is  the  property  and  plant  of  the  Library  system. 
But  it  is  of  value  only  as  it  is  worked.  The  books, 
manuscripts,  and  other  material  are  useless  except 
when  they  are  being  read  and  examined.  And  the 
Public  Library  plant,  like  every  other,  should  be 
worked,  if  it  is  worth  working  at  all,  to  the  limit  of  its 
capacity.  It  would  be  as  absurd  to  work  the  Public 
Library  plant  to  half  its  capacity  for  profitable  use  as  to 
work  only  half  the  spindles  in  a  mill,  or  half  the  loco- 
motives upon  a  railroad.  The  problem  of  working  the 
Public  Library,  therefore,  is  the  problem  of  bringing 
its  books  and  other  material  into  the  most  general  and 
extensive  public  use  within  the  limit  of  the  amount  of 
money  which  the  taxpayers  are  willing  to  pay  for  that 
use. 

The  system  is  worked,  as  you  will  see  from  what  I 
have  said  and  from  the  map  of  the  City,  through  the 
Central  Library  and  a  large  number  of  Branches  and 
Reading  Rooms  scattered  over  the  entire  47  square  miles 


[12] 

of  the  territory  of  the  City.     How  can  such  a  collection 
be  efficiently  worked? 

CATALOG^UING   THE    LIBRARY. 

In  the  first  place  it  is  obvious  that  it  cannot  be 
worked  at  all  without  suitable  catalogues,  and  the 
making  of  suitable  catalogues  for  such  a  system  is  a 
most  complex,  delicate,  and  difficult  task.  The  cata- 
logues of  the  Lihi^ary  are  the  eyes  through  which 
people  who  use  it  can  see  what  there  is  in  it,  and  find 
what  they  want.  Its  system  is  the  card  catalogue 
system  which  is  the  most  easily  used,  and  within  the 
limits  of  a  library  of  its  size  is  the  best.* 

The  making  of  a  card  catalogue  seems  a  very  simple 
thing  until  you  try  to  make  it.  The  simplest  form  of 
cataloguing,  however,  requires  at  least  two  cards  for 
each  book,  —  one  with  the  name  of  the  book,  the  date 
of  printing,  number  of  pages,  edition,  size,  etc.,  the 
other  with  the  name  of  the  author  and  the  other 
information  which  is  noted  upon  the  first  card.  This 
applies  to  the  ordinary  book  of  fiction,  but  if  the  book 
of  fiction  be  historical,  its  scene  laid  in  some  partic- 
ular country,  a  third  card  is  desirable  containing  the 
name  of  the  country  and  the  other  information  upon 
the  other  two  cards. 

If  the  book,  however,  relates  to  some  department  of 
human  knowledge,  —  as  for  instance,  botany,  —  there 
must  be  a  card  with  the  name  of  the  book,  its  subject 

*  The  British  Museum  catalogue  in  printed  volumes  contains  2,738,745  titles, 
which  it  is  estimated  would  require  about  5,477,499  cards  in  a  card  catalogue. 


[13] 
matter,  —  botany,  —  date  of  publication,  size,  pages,  etc., 
and  a  similar  card  with  the  name  of  the  author,  and  a 
third  card  with  the  title.  Botany,  at  the  head,  and  if 
the  book  relate  to  the  botany  of  a  particular  part  of  the 
world, — for  instance,  Massachusetts,  —  a  fourth  card 
is  required  under  the  title  Massachusetts. 

And  if  a  book  is  upon  a  general  subject  which 
embraces  several  subordinate  subjects  in  the  book, 
further  cards  are  desirable  with  the  title  of  each  of  the 
several  subjects.  So  you  see  the  cataloguing  of  a  book 
may  be  simple,  or  it  may  be  very  complex,  according  to 
the  character  of  the  information  which  a  person  might 
obtain  if  they  were  looking  over  the  catalogue  to  find 
information  as  to  any  particular  subject  or  person. 

If  the  book  is  printed  in  English  it  may  be  cata- 
logued by  a  person  trained  in  cataloguing  who  knows 
only  the  English  language,  but  if  it  is  in  German,  Rus- 
sian, Greek,  Latin,  Spanish  or  any  other  foreign  or 
dead  language,  the  person  who  is  to  catalogue  it  must 
be  an  accurate  scholar  in  the  language  in  which  the 
book  is  printed.  The  Chief  of  our  Catalogue  Depart- 
ment has  a  working  knowledge,  I  believe,  of  about 
eleven  foreign  langT^ages,  and  one  assistant  in  that 
department,  who  works  at  a  salary  of  $28.76  a  week,  is 
not  only  an  accomplished  general  scholar  but  has  a 
working  knowledge  of  eight  foreign  languages. 

But  when  all  this  is  done,  the  cards  are  of  no  use 
until  there  is  put  upon  them  numbers  indicating  where 
in  the  library  the  book  is  to  be  found.  To  enable  this 
to  be  done  the  departments  of  human  knowledge  are 


[14] 

arbitrarily  designated  b}^  numbers,  differing  somewhat 
in  different  systems  of  cataloguing.  For  instance, 
Botany  might  be  represented  by  the  number  16,  indi- 
cating that  under  the  number  16  in  the  library  stacks 
books  on  botany  are  to  be  found.  To  this  class 
number  are  added  other  numbers  indicating  the  shelf 
in  that  portion  of  the  stacks  where  the  book  is  to  be 
placed,  and  the  position  of  the  book  on  that  shelf. 
These  three  numbers  enable  the  person  knowing  their 
significance  to  go  to  the  place  in  the  Library  where  the 
book  is  to  be  found. 

When  these  numbers  are  put  upon  all  the  cards  rep- 
resenting the  book,  the  cards  must  be  printed  in  the 
Printing  Department,  the  proof  of  *the  cards  must  be 
read  in  the  Catalogue  Department,  and  the  proof  again 
read  in  what  is  called  the  Shelf  Department,  that  is, 
the  department  having  charge  of  the  shelves  where  the 
books  are  placed.  All  this  must  be  done  with  absolute 
accuracy.  There  is  no  room  for  mistakes  in  the 
Catalogue  Department,  because  if  a  book  is  improperly 
catalogued,  or  improperly  numbered,  it  may  as  well  be 
lost,  for  nobody  can  find  it  to  use  it. 

But  after  this  is  done  the  book  is  not  ready  for  use. 
The  book-plate  of  the  Library  must  be  pasted  in,  the 
plates,  if  there  be  any  in  the  book,  must  all  be  stamped 
with  indelible  ink  to  show  that  they  belong  to  the 
Public  Library,  the  title-page  must  be  stamped, — 
"  Boston  Public  Library,"  with  a  perforated  stamp,  and 
then  a  slip  must  be  pasted  into  the  book  upon  which 


[15] 
when  it  is  issued  for  use  the  date  and  the  fact  of  issue 
can  be  noted. 

All  these  things  must  be  done  in  a  more  or  less 
simple  or  complex  form  before  any  book  can  be  placed 
in  the  Library  in  a  condition  and  position  to  be  used. 
Each  of  the  three  million  catalogue  cards  in  the 
Library  system  has  required  these  various  processes  of 
work.  In  addition  to  all  these,  there  are  notes  as  to 
different  editions,  as  to  the  real  name  of  the  author, 
where  the  book  is  written  under  a  fictitious  name,  cross- 
references  to  other  books  relating  to  the  same  subject, 
and  an  amount  of  information  more  or  less  extensive, 
according  to  the  importance  of  the  book  and  of  the 
subject  to  which  it  relates,  which  it  is  desirable  and 
often  necessary  to  place  upon  the  cards  to  enable  them 
to  be  conveniently  and  efficiently  used. 

Of  course,  catalogues  of  engravings,  pictures,  photo- 
graphs, newspapers,  and  other  material  do  not  require 
the  same  elaborate  treatment  as  cards  for  books,  but 
they  do  require  equal  accuracy,  and  in  many  cases 
details  quite  as  extensive  as  those  required  upon  the 
cards  for  books. 

Li  1896,  the  Examining  Committee  spoke  in  their 
report  on  this  part  of  the  Library  work  as  follows : 

"  Few  people  probably  realize  the  vast  amount  of  work 
which  is  accomplished  by  the  Cataloguing  Depai-tment, 
and  it  is  possible  that  still  fewer  fully  realize  how 
comparatively  useless  a  large  Library  would  speedily 
become  if  this  department  were  not  maintained  with  the 
highest   degree   of  promptness    and    efficiency.     This 


[16] 

demands  the  highest  abihty,  the  ripest  experience,  and 
most  discriminating  judgment,  a  quick  sense  of  the 
scientific  relations  and  the  relative  values  of  every 
department  of  human  knowledge,  and  the  most  alert 
ajid  efficient  executive  administration." 

SHELVING  AND  TRACING  OP  BOOKS. 

To  keep  track  of  the  contents  of  the  Library  after 
they  are  thus  catalogued,  it  is  necessary  to  keep  a  list 
called  a  shelf  list,  showing  the  number  of  books  that 
belong  on  each  shelf,  and  by  this  list  the  shelves  are 
read  each  year,  so  that  if  a  book  is  not  on  the  shelf 
and  is  not  properly  charged  out,  as  being  in  use,  its 
absence  is  detected.  This  process  requires  the  service 
of  six  competent  persons  working  each  forenoon  of 
each  working  day  throughout  the  year  in  the  Central 
Library  alone.  The  same  process  of  reading  is  applied 
also  to  the  shelves  in  the  Branch  Libraries. 

About  200,000  volumes  in  the  Central  building  are 
on  shelves  where  they  can  be  taken  down  and  con- 
sulted, without  the  service  of  an  attendant,  as  in  Bates 
Hall,  or  with  the  service  of  an  attendant,  as  in  the 
special  collections  and  in  the  Fine  Arts,  Patent  and 
Music  Departments. 

There  are  certain  portions  of  the  Library  collection, 
however,  which  for  proper  convenience  of  public 
use  must  be  separated  into  specific  departments.  An 
illustration  of  this  is  found  in  the  Patent  Depart- 
ment. There  the  books  and  specifications,  of  which 
the  Library  has  an  exceptionally  large  and  complete 


[17] 
collection,  can  only  be  conveniently  consulted  where 
they  can  be  examined  together,  and  one  specification 
or  drawing  compared  with  another.  And  this  requires 
a  specially  fitted  up  room,  shelving,  tables,  etc.,  and 
the  services  of  an  attendant.  This  is  also  true  of  the 
Special  Libraries,  and  of  those  collections  of  books 
which  are  not  issued  for  use  outside  the  Library,  and 
are  so  valuable  that  examination  of  them  can  only  be 
permitted  in  the  presence  of  an  attendant.  This 
includes  the  Shakespeare  collection  and  many  other 
exceedingly  rare  and  valuable  books. 

PERSONS    AVHO    WORK    THE     LIBRARY. 

The  regular  Library  staff,  so-called,  that  is,  the 
persons  employed  in  working  the  books,  maps,  manu- 
scripts, and  other  material  in  the  Library,  consists  of 
two  hundred  and  thirty-eight  persons,  of  whom  forty- 
five  are  employed  in  the  Ordering,  Cataloguing,  and 
Shelf  Departments,  thirty-one  in  the  Issue  Department 
of  the  Central  Library,  ten  in  Bates  Hall,  thirteen  in 
the  department  of  Special  Libraries,  Fine  Arts,  Music, 
etc.,  twelve  in  the  Branch  Department  at  the  Central 
building,  and  ninety-six  in  the  Branches  and  Keading 
Rooms.  The  remaining  thirty-one  are  employed  in  the 
Children's,  the  Registration,  Statistical,  and  Executive 
Departments,  and  in  the  Patent,  Newspaper,  and 
Periodical  Rooms. 

For  the  Sunday  and  evening  service  the  employment 
of  one  hundred  seventy-one  persons  in  the  Central 
Library  and  in  the  Branches  is  required.     Much  of  this 


[18] 
service  is  performed  by  persons  employed  from  outside 
the  regular  library  force,  and  paid  by  the  hour  for 
actual  service  according  to  a  schedule  of  the  posi- 
tions and  rate  per  hour  to  be  paid  authorized  by  the 
Trustees. 

The  Branches  and  Reading  Rooms  each  have  an 
"  extra "  service,  that  is,  persons  who  work  during 
busy  hours  only  and  are  paid  by  the  hour  as  needed. 
There  are  about  60  persons  in  this  "  extra  "  service. 

Three  grades  of  educational  qualifications  are  re- 
quired of  these  persons  and  determined  by  competitive 
examinations.  The  lowest  grade,  which  includes  a 
comparatively  small  number  of  pages,  sub-assistants, 
etc.,  requires  a  training  equivalent  to  a  grammar  school 
course.  The  middle  grade  requires  qualifications 
equivalent  to  a  high  school  training  and  familiarity 
with  one  foreign  language.  The  third  grade,  including 
seventy-seven  persons,  requires  qualifications  equivalent 
to  those  obtained  by  a  college  course,  and  familiarity 
with  two  foreign  languages. 

The  proper  cataloguing  and  classifying  of  books  and 
the  reference  work  necessary  to  aid  those  using  the 
Library,  also  requires  in  many  positions  much  higher 
qualifications  than  those  which  could  be  obtained  by 
the  ordinary  college  course. 

WORiaNG   HOITRS    OF    THE    LIBRARY. 

The  Central  Library  and  the  Branches  open  and 
their  work  begins  at  9  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The 
Reading    Rooms    open    in    the    afternoon    at   varying 


[19] 
hours.  The  service  continues  until  10  o'clock  at  night 
at  the  Central  Library  building  and  at  the  West  End 
Branch,  and  until  9  at  the  other  Branches  and  Reading 
Rooms,  except  during  the  summer  months.  During 
June,  July,  August  and  September  the  Central 
Library  and  West  End  Branch  are  closed  at  9  o'clock. 
The  other  Branches  and  Reading  Rooms  during  a 
shorter  period  close  earlier  than  in  winter,  but  at  vary- 
ing hours.  The  Central  Library  is  in  operation  one 
hundred  nineteen  days  of  twelve  hours  each,  and  two 
hundred  forty  days  of  thirteen  hours  each,  making  an 
aggregate  of  359  days,  and  4,548  hours  during  each 
twelve  months. 

LIBRARY   DEPARTMENTS. 

The  persons  employed  in  working  the  Library 
are  organized  under  the  following  heads:  Executive 
Department,  including  the  Librarian,  Assistant  Libra- 
rian, Auditor,  Clerk,  Custodian  of  the  Stock-room,  etc.; 
Catalogue  Department,  including  the  Chief  Cataloguer 
and  assistants;  Ordering  Department;  Shelf  Depart- 
ment; Bates  Hall,  including  the  Custodian  and  assist- 
ants; the  Special  Libraries,  including  also  all  persons 
employed  in  the  Departments  of  Music  and  Fine  Ai'ts; 
Statistical  Department,  including  documents  and  manu- 
scripts; Periodical  and  NewspajDer  Rooms;  Patent 
Department;  Issue  Department;  Children's  Room;  and 
the  Registration  Department,  which  registers  card 
holders  entitled  to  take  out  books  for  home  use.  All 
these  are  in  the  Central  Library. 


[20] 

In  each  department  a  Time-book  is  kept,  in  which  all 
employees  are  required  to  enter  the  exact  time  that  they 
arrive  on  duty  each  day,  and  their  absence  from  duty 
during  regular  hours  is  also  noted  thereon. 

In  addition  to  these  there  is  in  the  Central  Library 
building  the  Branch  Department,  in  charge  of  the 
Supervisor  of  Branches  and  Reading  Rooms,  who  has 
supervision  of  the  entire  machinery  of  working  the 
Branches  and  Reading  Rooms  individually  and  in  con- 
nection with  the  Central  Library. 

Bach  of  the  thirteen  Branches  has  a  Custodian  in 
charge  of  the  work  of  that  Branch,  with  necessary 
assistants,  and  in  most  cases  a  janitor  to  care  for  the 
premises.  And  each  of  the  seventeen  Reading  Rooms 
has  a  Custodian  in  charge  of  its  work. 

BOOK  CIRCULATION  AND  USE  OF  THE  LIBRARY. 

Through  this  organization  the  general  work  of  the 
Library  is  carried  on,  and  there  are  annually  issued  for 
direct  home  use  nearly  300,000  volumes  at  the  Central 
Library,  and  from  the  Central  Library  through  the 
Branches  about  85,000  more,  while  the  Branches  and 
Reading  Rooms  also  issue  more  than  a  million  three 
hundred  thousand  volumes  for  home  use,  making  the 
direct  issue  for  home  use  nearly  1,650,000  annually. 

The  use  of  the  Library  for  general  reference  and 
study  is  so  unrestricted  that  no  accurate  statistics  of  it 
can  be  given.  Its  extent,  however,  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  during  one  year  about  half  a  million  call  slips 
for  the  table  use  of  books  in   Bates  Hall  alone  were 


[21] 
necessary.  The  daily  use  of  books  and  other  library 
material  in  the  Central  Library  and  in  the  Branches  is 
doubtless  many  times  greater  than  the  home  use  of 
books  drawn  out  upon  cards  and  requires  constant  and 
accui-ate  service  by  a  large  force  of  employees. 

The  mere  obtaining  and  delivering  of  a  book  to  a 
reader  in  the  Bates  Hall  Reading  Room  of  the  Central 
Library  requires  the  intelligent  and  accurate  service  of 
six  different  persons,  if  the  book  is  in  its  proper  place 
in  the  stacks.  The  return  of  the  book  to  its  place 
requires  the  service  of  four  persons. 

The  obtaining  and  delivering  to  a  card  holder  of  a 
book  for  home  use  requires  the  services  of  four  persons, 
and  the  return  of  the  book  to  its  place  requires  also  the 
services  of  four  persons,  none  of  whom  must  make  any 
mistakes,  and  all  of  these  services  require  the  perfect 
and  efficient  working  of  the  book  cari'ier  system. 

Most  of  these  persons  who  perform  this  accurate 
service  receive  only  |8.00  a  week,  and  the  highest  paid 
to  any  of  them  is  $15.00  a  week. 

HOW    THE    LIBRARY    SYSTEM   IS   WORKED    AS    A    UNIT. 

The  great  problem  in  w^orking  the  Library  is  to 
handle  and  work  its  collections  in  the  Central  Library 
and  the  Branches  and  Reading  Rooms  as  a  whole.  If 
each  Branch  was  worked  as  an  independent  Library,  its 
work,  though  important,  would  be  of  very  much  less 
public  benefit  than  it  is  when  worked  with  the  Central 
Library.  This  is  done  to  a  large  and  increasing  extent. 
If  a  person   using  any  one  of  the  Branches  desires  a 


[22] 

book  which  is  not  in  the  Branch  collection  but  is  in  the 
Central  collection,  application  is  made  by  the  Branch 
Library  to  the  Central  and  the  book  is  sent  to  the 
Branch.  The  same  is  true  of  applications  at  Reading 
Rooms. 

All  books  issued  for  home  use  are  issued  upon  cards, 
and  may  be  returned  at  the  Central  Library  or  any 
Branch  or  Reading  Room  upon  these  cards,  without 
I'eference  to  where  the  book  was  taken  out. 

This  requires  transportation,  and  the  Library  hires 
four  wagons  at  a  cost  of  over  $7,000  a  year,  and  also 
uses  local  expresses  somewhat  in  addition,  to  transport 
books  between  the  Branches  and  Reading  Rooms  and 
the  Central  Library,  and  to  engine  houses,  public  insti- 
tutions and  public  and  parochial  schools.  In  the  month 
of  December  last,  nearly  11,000  books  were  sent  to  the 
Branches  from  the  Central  Library  upon  such  indi- 
vidual applications,  and  over  3,000  volumes  were  sent 
on  deposit  to  the  various  Reading  Rooms.  During  the 
same  month  over  18,000  books  were  carried  by  these 
wagons  from  the  Branches  and  Reading  Rooms  to  the 
Central  Library.  The  State  law,  which  is  construed  as 
limiting  the  hours  the  drivers  of  these  wagons  can 
work  to  eight  hours  a  day  and  not  to  exceed  forty-eight 
hours  a  week,  limits  this  method  of  transportation  and 
makes  the  service  somewhat  more  expensive  than  for- 
merly. 

LIBRARY    COOPERATION   WITH    SCHOOLS,    ETC. 

During  the  past  year  the  Library  has  been  daily  sup- 
plying with  books  oO  Branches  and  Reading  Rooms,  62 


[23] 

engine  houses,  36  institutions,  and  139  public  and 
parochial  schools,  and  sending  to  them  an  average  of 
about  414:  volumes  every  day  by  its  delivery  wagons. 
In  addition  to  this  the  Branches  themselves  and  two  of 
the  largest  Reading  Rooms  are  sending  out  books  on 
deposit  distributed  among  157  places  and  amounting  to 
over  44,000  volumes  annually,  of  which  over  18,000  are 
sent  to  schools.  That  is  to  say,  not  only  is  the  col- 
lection of  the  Central  Library  used  as  a  reservoir  from 
which  books  may  be  drawn  for  use  in  the  Branches 
and  Reading  Rooms,  but  each  of  the  Branches  and 
Reading  Rooms  is  in  itself  a  reservoir  from  which 
books  are  drawn  for  use  by  teachers  in  schools  in  its 
immediate  vicinity. 

This  applies  not  only  to  books,  but  to  photographs 
and  pictures  of  different  kinds  mainly  for  use  in  schools 
in  connection  with  the  work  of  the  teachers.  These 
are  sent  out  from  the  Central  Library  to  the  Branches, 
and  also  from  the  Branches  to  the  teachers  in  their 
vicinity  in  portfolios  each  containing  about  25  pictures, 
which  when  used  by  the  teachers  are  returned.  These 
collections  consist  of  illustrations  of  Fine  Arts,  Physi- 
cal and  Commercial  Geography,  colored  views  of  all 
countries,  types  of  peoples,  industries,  transjDortation, 
etc.  Li  November  last  one  Branch  issued  200  pictures 
in  this  way,  another  350,  and  another  822.  About 
40,000  pictures  from  the  Branch  collections  are  annu- 
ally lent  to  reading-rooms,  schools  and  study  clubs, 
and  the  Fine  Arts  Department  of  the  Central  Library 
also    sends   out   over   2,500   portfolios    of  pictures   to 


[24] 

schools.  From  the  Branches,  Reading  Rooms,  and  the 
Central  Library  about  950  teachers  are  supplied  with 
books  for  use  in  their  work,  and  the  school  circulation 
is  about  160,000  volumes  a  year. 

In  addition  to  this  cooperation  in  the  work  of  the 
schools,  there  is  also  the  work  which  is  done  by  the 
Library  employees  in  providing  selected  lists  of  books 
asked  for  by  teachers  to  aid  them  in  their  work. 
In  one  month  30  requests  by  teachers  for  books  were 
received  at  the  Central  Library,  accompanied  by  lists  of 
books  desired,  varying  in  number  from  four  volumes  to 
239  volumes,  and  29  similar  requests  were  received 
where  the  teacher  gave  only  the  subject  upon  which 
books  were  desired.  Some  of  these  requests  may 
interest  you :  —  "  Moths,  butterflies  and  insects.  —  King 
Arthur  and  his  Knights.  —  Fifty  books  pertaining  to 
geography  and  American  history.  —  A  set  of  books  on 
Mohammed,  the  Koran,  Ottoman  Empire  and  Sultans. 
—  Works  of  American  poets  — as  many  as  possible; 
Works  of  English  poets  —  a  few.  —  A  set  of  books  on 
Africa  or  United  States  history.  —  Books  on  Indians, 
transportation,  days  of  the  '  Forty-niners,'  Great  Lakes, 
Mississippi  River,  homes  of  people  of  different  nation- 
alities, Hudson  Bay  Co.  —  A  set  of  books  on  the 
colonization  and  development  of  the  country.  —  Two 
hundred  books,  if  possible,  on  Greek  history,  Greek 
literature,  Greek  plays,  travel  and  social  life  in  Greece, 
Greek  art,  and  English  and  American  fiction,  myths 
of  all  lands,  American  literature,  nature  books.  — 
American  history  from  the  close  of  the  Revolution  to 
the  end  of  the  Civil  War." 


[25] 

The  following  books  were  recently  sent  to  a  teacher 
of  a  grammar  school  upon  an  application  which  stated 
only  the  subjects  upon  which  books  were  required: 

Betty  Alden.  Standish  of  Standish.  Little  women. 
Little  men.  Historic  boys.  Godson  of  Lafayette.  In 
Leisler's  time.  Century  book  of  American  colonies. 
Historic  Americans.  Discovery  of  the  old  Xorthwest. 
Stories  of  the  Old  Bay  State.  Benjamin  Franklin. 
Cln-istopher  Columbus.  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 
Modern  Europe.  Cable  story  book.  Story  of  the  Iliad. 
Hans  Brinker.  Wonder  book  of  old  romance.  Making 
of  New  England.  Our  first  century.  Peeps  at  many 
lands.  Story  of  the  thirteen  colonies.  American 
leaders  and  heroes.  In  Eastern  wonderlands.  Arabian 
nights.  Wanderings  of  ^neas.  Colonial  children. 
The  heroes.  Northern  Europe.  True  story  book. 
Animal  story  book.  Book  of  ballad  stories.  Heroines 
every  child  should  know\  Old  Greek  folk  stories. 
King  Arthur.  George  Washington.  American 
Indians.  Strange  peoples.  Lobo,  Rag,  and  Yixen. 
Hans  the  Eskimo.  Every  day  life  in  the  colonies.  The 
colonies.  Life  in  Asia.  Toward  the  rising  sun.  Biog- 
raphy of  a  grizzly.  Under  sunny  skies.  Story  of 
Japan.     Children's  stories  in  American  literature. 

The  following  selected  from  the  last  monthly  request 
of  90  books  from  the  State  Prison  at  Charlestown, 
shows  the  wide  range  of  subjects  asked  for: 

Arabic  language. 

Science  of  jurisprudence. 

Key  to  Italian  conversation  grammar. 


[26] 

Freehand  drawing. 

Instruction  in  wood  carving. 

Decorative  brush  work. 

The  dawn  of  day. 

The  heart  of  Scotland. 

Sign  lettei'ing. 

In  the  old  chateau. 

The  art  of  singing. 

Stearns  family  genealogy. 

Our  eyes  and  how  to  care  for  them. 

Constitutional  history  of  England. 

Humanity. 

The  ship  dwellers. 

Chemistry. 

Cosmetics. 

The  gem  speaker. 

The  practice  of  diplomacy. 


HELP    GIVEN   PERSONS    USING   THE    LIBRAKY. 

There  is  also  the  constant  service  of  the  Library  to 
children  and  others  who  come  to  find  books  upon 
subjects  which  they  wish  to  study  or  write  about.  On 
a  single  day  in  one  month  158  children  by  actual  count 
came  into  the  rooms  of  a  single  Branch  Library  between 
three  and  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  this  was 
not  regarded  as  an  unusual  number. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  inquiries  made  for 
information  at  one  Branch  during  three  days: 

"  Please  tell  me  the  author"  of  Kenilworth? 

"        "     "     "         "         "   Tom  Brown  at  Rugby  ? 
"        "     "     "         '*         "   Birds' Christmas  Carol  ? 
"        "      "     "         "         "    Tom  Sawyer? 


[27] 

In  connection  with  literature  : 
Something  on  the  life  of  Socrates. 
"  "     "     "     "  Coleridge. 

about  William  Tell. 
"  "      Robin  Hood. 

"  on  Burns's  love  of  nature. 

In  connection  with  geography  : 
Something  on  Asia. 

"  "  Africa,  rivers,  etc. 

"  about  the  boys  of  diflfei'ent  counti'ies. 

In  connection  with  science  : 

"  Can  you  give  me  a  book  explaining  the  causes  of  moisture  in  the 

atmosphere  ?  " 
The  origin  of  the  tides  ? 
The  dragon  fly  ? 

In  connection  with  the  study  of  history : 
Something  on  Draco. 

"  "  the  Persian  Wars. 

"  "     "     "  Holy  Crusades." 

"  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 
"  "  George  Washington. 

"  "  General  Custer. 

"  •'  any  American  leaders  or  heroes. 

"  "  PequotWar. 

"  "  the  English  settlers  in  America. 

"  "  Salem  witchcraft. 

"         about  the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition. 
"  "     Barbai'a  Frietchie. 

*•  A  book  about  the  Civil  War,  for  a  man." 

General  requests : 
Christmas  stories,  poems,  the  stoiy  of  the  first  Chi'istmas.     (Many 

times.) 
Life  of  Christ. 
New  Year's  poems. 
Lives  of  the  Saints.     (Many.) 
St.  Nicholas. 
Life  and  work  of  Jean  Francois  Millet. 


[28] 

••  Who  was  tlie  best  author  of  the  life  of  Napoleon  ?     What  a  pity 

Carlyle  did  not  write  his  life." 
"  Please  find  "  :  My  hunt  after  "  the  Captain/' 

Breathes  there  the  man,  etc. 

The  discontented  pendulum. 
' '  Have  you  the  Speeches  of  Henry  Grattan  ?  " 
"  Can  you  give  me  a  Polish  book  ?  " 
"  Have  you  something  on  Phonics  ?  " 
"Have  you  something  on  Whitney's  cotton-gin?" 
"  Have  you  the  Directory  for  1907  ?" 
"  Do  you  have  the  daily  papers  ?" 

A  young  lady  having  an  old  violin  asked  for  some  book  giving  the 
name  and  history  of  the  old  makers,  violin  being  dated  1524. 

At  the  Reading  Room,  13  Broadway  Extension, 
among  other  inquiries  for  information  during  two  suc- 
cessive days  were  the  following  : 

John  Law.     His  method  of  finance. 

Nationality  of  Cooper's  mother. 

Enough  about  the  Star  Spangled  banner  for  a  composition. 

How  does  the  number  of  words  in  Greek  compare  with  the  number 

in  English  ? 
What  does  Good-bye  really  mean  ? 
All  about  the  Lion  of  St.  Mark's. 
Stoi-y  of  Daniel  Boone,  for  4th  Grade. 
Book  on  initial  letters. 
Story  of  Thor. 
What  books  beside  stories  for  a  mother  to  read  ?     Anything  on  the 

training  of  children. 
Book  on  the  Desolation  Islands. 

Some  of  the  subjects  asked  for  by  readers  at  Bates 
Hall  during  a  few  weeks  were: 

Treatment  of  the  Indians  by  the  United  States  government. 
Theocratic  government  of  New  England. 


[29] 

Emulsions  in  three  coloi'  photography. 

A  dream  book  to  tell  the  meaning  of  dreams. 

Picture  of  a  pallium. 

The  habitat  of  the  razor  fish. 

Illustrations  of  flying  machines. 

Effects  of  the  Distinct  Option  law. 

Rate  of  insurance  on  a  building  containing  a  paint  shop. 

Christmas  in  Spain. 

Identification  of  a  religious  order  from  the  dress  on  a  doll. 

The  canon  of  Ptolemy. 

"  Some  nice  book." 

Shakespeare's  Taming  of  the  "  Crew." 

'♦  Casero's  Essays  on  senility  and  friendship"  for 
Cicero's  Essays  on  old  age  and  friendship. 

Mark    Antony's    Meditations,    i.e.,    Marcus    Aurelius    Antoninus's 
Meditations. 

Picture  of  an  apricot  for  a  grocer's  label. 

The  Grub  Street  Journal. 

Coloring  of  metals. 

Silvering  of  mirrors. 

An  automobile  road  book  for  England. 

A  medical  book  for  a  young  man  studying  to  be  an  undertaker. 

The  mail-order  business. 

An  occupation  adapted  to  a  nervously  prostrated  man. 

King  Leopold  and  the  Congo. 

Sanctification. 

Veal. 

Tara  and  its  harp. 

Etiquette  of  mourning. 

Effect  of  coloi-s  on  human  conduct. 

The  saloon. 

Wall  street  terms. 

Astrology. 

Chiromancy. 

History  of  pantomime. 

Education  of  the  nervous  system. 


[30] 
On  one  day  in  a  single  month  readers  in  Bates  Hall 
asked  information  on  the  following  subjects: 

Polish  books.  Who  predicted  the  greatness  of  New  York  City?  His- 
tory of  the  United  States.  Martin's  History  of  Franklin  County,  O. 
Expi'ess  4  962  000  in  Roman  characters.  Shakespeare's  songs.  Voca- 
tional schools  in  Boston.  Commercial  law.  Walt  Wiiitman's  Avorks. 
Dead  Sea.  Lassalle,  the  socialist.  Notable  Americans.  Use  of  egg 
albumen.  Home  gymnastics.  Lowell  Institute  lectures.  United  States 
fisheries.  Poem  of  Singing  Leaves.  Glaucoma  of  the  eye.  Shake- 
speare's Henry  VIII.  Emma  Marshall's  novels.  French  and  German 
indexes  of  magazines.  Russian  books.  German  socialism.  Electric 
meters.  Heads  of  families  in  First  Census  of  United  States.  Morse's 
telegraphic  code.  Bunyan  bibliography.  Lieutenant  Totten's  works. 
Livery  companies  of  London.  Scharf's  history  of  Texas.  Wool  waste. 
Water  gas.  Class  mottoes.  Stories  for  Junior  Christian  Endeavor  work. 
Poetry  of  the  American  Revolution.  A  portrait  of  Sir  Francis  Bernard. 
Milton  books.  List  of  public  schools  in  Boston.  City  of  Seattle,  Wash- 
ington. Philippine  Islands.  Life  of  Nero  and  newest  fiction.  Foreign 
menus  for  Christmas  dinners.  Boys'  clubs.  Climate  of  Para,  Brazil. 
Statistics  of  deaths  in  Boston,  London,  Dresden,  and  Munich.  Boston  city 
government.  Bigelow  genealogy.  Pictures  of  wood  nymphs.  Biogra- 
phies of  prominent  men  of  to-day.  Who  was  Gassendi  ?  Open  shelf  sys- 
tem in  libraries.  Electrical  apparatus.  Bible  stories.  Bible  characters. 
"  New  Thought"  books.  Forestry  bill  in  last  session  of  Congress.  Parks. 
Greek  architecture.  Psychic  treatment  of  nervous  diseases.  Agriculture. 
American  Book  prices  current.  Telegraphy.  East  India  Company. 
Laundries.  Coffee-houses.  English  heraldry.  Greek  drama.  Municipal 
elections  in  Boston.  United  States  consular  service.  Signs  of  the  Zodiac. 
Predestination.  English  composition.  Text-book  on  Zoology.  Hypnotic 
therapeutics.     United  States  War  Department  reports. 

Many  books  were  asked  for  by  name,  and  numerous 
routine  questions  were  also  asked  and  answered. 

RELATION    OF    THE    LIBRARY    TO    SCHOLARSHIP. 

It  is  true  that  the  primary  purpose  of  a  free  public 
library  supported  by  taxation  is  to  give  good  books  to 


[31] 

those  who  would  not  otherwise  have  them,  and  to  afford 
instruction  by  the  intelHgent  use  of  books  to  those  who 
would  not  otherwise  have  it.  But  the  Boston  Public 
Library  also  has  another  purpose  not  less  important  to 
the  welfare  of  the  people,  though  less  in  the  public 
view,  and  not  so  obvious  to  the  public  at  large.  It  is 
a  scholar's  library,  and  it  is  of  public  importance  that  it 
should  be  maintained  as  such.  It  is  only  by  the 
scholar's  work  that  the  primary  purpose  of  a  public 
library  can  be  accomplished. 

Good  books  do  not  come  by  chance.  They  come 
only  by  the  work  of  scholars.  The  scholar  writes  the 
text-book  that  the  child  studies;  he  discovers  the  law 
by  which  the  inventor  improves  an  existing  industry, 
or  creates  a  new  industry.  The  scholar  recreates  a 
period  of  history  from  its  scanty  records  and  manu- 
scripts; he  constructs  a  grammar  by  means  of  which 
civilization  makes  its  way  into  new  territories,  or  the 
new  world  shares  its  knowledge  and  its  traditions  with 
the  old.  The  scholar's  work  is  manifold,  and  that  time 
and  that  state  are  poor  indeed  which  are  without  it. 

The  scholar's  work  is  nowhere  more  important  than 
in  our  City,  Avhich  is  preeminent  in  the  work  of  educa- 
tion, linearly  20,000  students  are  pursuing  their  studies 
either  within  immediate  reach  or  within  easy  access  of 
the  Central  Library  building.  The  teachers  in  these 
institutions  are  scholars,  many  of  them  not  only  teach- 
ing students  directly,  but  working  in  the  preparation  of 
books  for  students.  Their  work  covers  language,  art, 
literature,  economics,  science,  music,  sculpture,  applied 


[32] 
mechanics  and  every  other  form  of  intellectual  instruc- 
tion. These  institutions  of  learning  not  only  give 
dignity  and  importance  to  our  City,  but  they  also  aid 
its  material  prosperity,  and  even  in  that  aspect  are  as 
important  as  factories  and  warehouses,  railroad  and 
steamship  lines,  or  wharves  and  docks. 

Our  Library  is  therefore  not  only  an  important  means 
of  popular  education,  but  it  is  also  a  valuable  business 
asset  of  the  City.  It  not  only  gives  instruction  for  the 
people,  but  it  provides  material  for  the  work  of  the 
scholar  without  whose  work  popular  education  and 
instruction  could  not  go  on.  The  Boston  Public 
Library  was  founded  by  scholars  and  from  the  begin- 
ning recognized  its  duty  to  scholarship.  The  roll  call 
of  its  special  collections  tells  the  story  of  provision  for 
the  scholar,  not  only  by  private  gift  but  by  public 
expense.  Dr.  Bowditch  brought  to  it  his  rare  and 
valuable  books  on  pure  mathematics.  The  unique  col- 
lection made  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Prince,  surpassingly 
rich  in  books  relating  to  early  New  England  history, 
has  found  its  proper  place  here.  The  Ticknor  library 
offers  opportunity  to  scholars  for  study  in  the  French, 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  languages  which  is  probably 
not  to  be  found  elsewhere  in  America.  The  Barton 
library,  with  its  priceless  Shakespeareana,  acquired 
partly  by  the  generosity  of  Mrs.  Barton,  and  partly  by 
the  expenditure  of  City  money,  is  the  crown  of  the 
Library's  collections.  The  Allen  A.  Brown  Music  and 
Dramatic  collections,  the  Thayer  library,  the  Parker 
library,    the    John   Adams   library,   the    Chamberlain 


[33] 

manuscript  collection,  and  many  other  important  and 
some  unique  collections,  justify  the  claim  of  our  Library 
to  be  the  Mecca  of  America  for  those  men  and  women 
who  are  pledged  to  the  service  of  learning. 

This  Library  has  thus  a  great  inheritance  of  material 
upon  which  the  scholai*  can  work.  The  City  cannot 
afford  to  regard  these  collections  with  indifference,  or 
even  with  inactive  respect.  They  must  be  kept  up, 
cared  for,  extended,  made  more  perfect,  so  that  people 
will  continue  to  come  to  our  City  for  the  purpose  of 
using  them.  It  is  good  for  Boston  that  men  should 
come  to  it  as  they  go  to  Rome,  or  London,  or  Paris, 
that  they  may  find  the  great  rare  books  of  the  world 
and  use  them.  Boston  is  bound  in  honor  to  keep  alive 
its  traditional  hospitality  toward  scholarship.  Kare 
books,  books  for  scholars,  as  well  as  books  for  children, 
and  books  for  the  people,  must  be  continually  acquired. 
The  money  spent  for  a  rare  book  which  is  needed  for 
but  one  scholar,  and  by  him  but  twice  in  a  lifetime,  may 
be  well  spent  if  it  brings  him  to  Boston  for  that  book 
and  saves  him  a  journey  half  around  the  world  to  find 
it  and  use  it.  It  may  lead  him,  as  is  often  the  case,  to 
make  this  City  his  home  because  he  can  here  best  find 
help  in  research  and  study.  The  Library  must  continue 
to  employ  scholars.  It  must  recognize  scholars.  It 
must  help  scholars  in  their  work.  Only  by  doing  this 
can  it  be  worthy  of  its  own  history,  and  be  of  the 
greatest  benefit  to  our  City. 

The  following  classification  of  books  called  for  and 


OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY 


[34] 

used  in  Bates  Hall  reading  room  during  three  days  of 
1912  tells  the  story,  and  it  is  this: 

No.  of 
Classification,  Volumes  Used. 

Bibliography 74 

History,  Genei'al    . 205 

American 1,075 

English 620 

French 293 

Italian 59 

German 138 

Greek  and  Latin  classics 108 

Theology 219 

Social  Science 305 

Political  Economy 132 

Jurisprudence 171 

Natural  Science 237 

Mathematics 154 

Useful  and  mechanic  arts 243 

Fine  arts  and  music 35 

Foreign  languages,  unclassified 134 

English  literature,  unclassified 19 

Periodicals,  unclassified 24 

Transactions  of  societies 22 

Encyclopasdias 118 

Fiction 74 

Total 4,432 

It  is  to  be  observed  in  connection  with  this  list  that 
it  represents  only  books  called  for  and  brought  to 
the  readers  by  attendants,  and  does  not  include  the 
very  large  number  of  books  taken  by  the  readers 
directly  from  the  open-shelf  collection  of  10,000  vol- 
umes, placed  in  Bates  Hall  for  use  in  real  research  and 
study.     In  addition  to  these  there  are  the  collections  in 


[35] 

the  Fine  Arts  Department,  the  Barton-Ticknor  room 
and  the  Patent  room.  All  books  in  these  departments 
are  for  study  and  research. 

The  statistics  in  the  annual  reports  of  the  special 
libraries  give  but  slight  indication  of  the  importance  of 
these  collections  to  students.  Many  of  the  most 
important  books  are  restricted  to  use  within  the  library 
building  and  the  circulation  of  these  volumes  is  not 
apparent.  The  photographs,  which  do  not  circulate 
out  of  the  Library,  are  especially  valuable  in  class  and 
exhibition  work  and  are  in  constant  demand.  The 
larger  cabinet  folios  and  the  more  expensive  volumes 
relating  to  the  arts  of  architecture,  painting  and  decora- 
tion are  extensively  used,  but  their  use  is  not  recorded 
statistically.  Students  from  the  art  schools,  or  sent  by 
private  instructors,  are  engaged  in  tracing,  or  are 
otherwise  employed  with  drawing  materials,  using  the 
books  which  the  Fine  Arts  Department  gives  to  them, 
without  formality,  upon  tables  set  apart  for  this  pur- 
pose. The  entire  Allen  A.  Brown  Music  Collection  is 
reserved  for  hall  use.  The  tables  in  the  Barton  Gal- 
lery are  reserved  for  persons  engaged  in  authorship  or 
in  extended  research  and  this  quiet  reading  room  is 
largely  used  by  i-eaders  whose  books  are  not  enumer- 
ated in  the  tables  of  circulation. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  Department  of  Statistics 
and  Documents  and  of  the  Department  of  Patents. 
The  number  of  persons  who  have  consulted  the  files  in 
the  Patent  Department  during  the  last  year  was  13,430, 
a  gain  of  2,114  as  compared  with  the  previous  year. 


[36] 

They  have  used  97,945  volumes  as  compared  with 
81,397  volumes  consulted  the  previous  year.  And  in 
addition  to  this  there  is  the  constant  use  of  this  depart- 
ment by  students  direct  from  the  shelves,  which  is  not 
recorded. 

The  use  of  the  Library  has  grown  so  quietly  that  its 
importance  to  the  interests  of  real  education  is  not 
understood.  In  fact  it  ma}'  fairly  be  said  that  this  use 
of  the  Library  is  the  supplement  and  complement  of  all 
the  educational  institutions  in  and  about  Boston.  It  is 
unthinkable  that  the  great  w^ork  of  education  which 
gives  so  much  dignity  and  importance  and  profit  to  the 
city  could  go  on  for  a  single  day  without  the  assistance 
of  the  Library. 

NEWSPAPERS    AND    PERIODICALS. 

The  newspaper  room  at  the  Central  Library,  the 
papers  for  which  are  mainly  purchased  from  the 
income  of  a  bequest  of  the  late  William  C.  Todd  for 
that  purpose,  has  355  different  papers  filed  for  current 
reading,  of  which  267  are  in  the  English  language,  16 
French,  16  German,  7  Italian,  7  Spanish,  7  Swedish, 
and  the  rest  in  14  other  languages,  including  one  in 
Old  Hebrew,  published  in  Jerusalem,  and  one  in 
Tagalese  and  English,  published  in  the  Philippines, 
also  Greek,  Russian,  Armenian,  Polish,  Welsh,  Hun- 
garian, etc. 

One  paper  at  least,  from  every  civilized  nation,  when 
obtainable,  and  at  least  two  papers  from  every  State  in 
the  Union,  are  taken.     Among  them  are  papers  from 


[37] 

Buenos  Ayres,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Valparaiso,  Melbourne, 
Sydney,  Auckland,  Cape  Town,  Alexandria,  Yoko- 
hama, Shanghai,  Bombay,  Calcutta,  Hawaii,  the  Philip- 
pines, Cuba,  and  Porto  Kico.  Fourteen  papers  are 
taken  from  Canada  and  sixty  from  Massachusetts.  The 
papers  from  Boston  comprise  one  in  Lettish,  three  in 
German,  one  in  Italian,  one  in  Swedish,  and  all  the 
English  dailies  and  weekhes. 

The  mere  opening,  filing,  and  caring  for  the  use  of 
these  papers  and  selecting  from  them  those  which  are 
to  be  bound  into  files,  is  no  inconsiderable  task.  The 
Boston  papers  and  also  the  leading  papei's  from  other 
places  are  bound  and  preserved  in  newspaper  files 
which  now  include  over  7,000  bound  volumes  which  are 
much  used.  During  the  last  year  about  32,000  news- 
paper volumes  were  consulted  by  readers. 

One  thousand  two  hundied  forty-nine  different  peri- 
odicals are  regularly  filed  and  used  in  the  periodical 
rooms  at  the  Central  Library,  224  in  the  Statistical, 
Music,  and  Fine  Arts  Departments  and  in  the  Children's 
Koom,  making  with  the  115  taken  at  the  Branches, 
1,588  in  all.  These  include  all  the  leading  periodicals 
of  the  world  in  every  department  of  literature  and 
science  and  in  almost  every  language,  all  of  which  find 
ready  readers  in  the  periodical  room. 

Frenchmen,  Germans,  Russians,  Italians,  Spaniards, 
Poles,  Greeks,  Scandinavians,  Bohemians  and  Lithua- 
nians, Arabs  and  Turks  are  among  the  i-eaders  who 
regularly  come  to  the  periodical  room  as  the  cur- 
rent numbers  of  those  periodicals  are  received.     The 


[38] 
workmen  of  various  trades  come  regularly  to  read  their 
trade  journals  which  are  not  always  accessible  to  them 
elsewhere. 

The  periodical  room  is  generally  filled  with  readers, 
and  the  bound  files  of  periodicals  are  also  extensively 
used,  the  largest  use  being  by  students  from  colleges 
and  other  schools  in  the  vicinity.  Four  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  different  volumes  were  consulted  in  one 
day  by  students  from  a  single  college,  and  requests  for 
information  from  bound  volumes  of  periodicals  made  to 
the  attendant  in  charge  of  the  room  cover  a  very  wide 
range  of  subjects.     The  following  requests  illustrate  it: 

Ancient  Babylon,  its  social  and  political  condition; 
Modern  Turkey  and  the  social  revolution  there;  Arti- 
cles relating  to  members  of  the  Cabinet;  Poems  and 
pictures  on  special  subjects;  Secret  Societies  in  China; 
Designs  for  and  descriptions  of  Floral  pageants; 
Psycho-therapy;  What  Jews  have  done  to  promote 
civilization  in  England;  The  Course  of  noted  Irishmen 
in  the  world;  Technical  information  on  various  sub- 
jects; Recipes  for  condiments;  Material  for  use  in 
school  and  in  college  debates. 

Periodicals  are  also  taken  and  on  file  in  the  different 
Branches,  the  largest  number  being  66  at  the  "West 
End  Branch,  and  the  smallest  12  at  Orient  Heights 
Reading  Room. 

INTER-LIBRARY   LOANS. 

There  is  another  work  performed  by  the  Public 
Library,  which,  although  not  extensive,  is  still  impor- 


[39] 
tant,  and  that  is  its  participation  in  what  is  called  the 
inter-library  loans.  It  frequently  happens  that  a  per- 
son in  another  city  or  town  desires  a  book  which  his 
local  library  does  not  have,  but  which  the  Boston 
Library  has.  In  that  case,  if  the  local  library  makes 
application  to  the  Boston  Library  the  book  will  be  lent 
to  it  upon  its  responsibility  for  its  care  and  return,  and 
thus  the  person  who  desires  it  in  his  own  town  or  city 
can  have  the  use  of  it. 

In  this  way  there  were  lent  to  libraries  during  the 
year  1913  about  1,179  volumes,  all  of  which  were  safely 
returned;  and  there  were  also  lent  to  libraries  outside 
Massachusetts  230.  On  the  other  hand,  a  person  by 
this  arrangement  can  obtain  from  other  libraries  books 
which  the  Boston  Library  does  not  have  in  the  same 
way,  but,  of  course,  the  balance  is  very  largely  in  favor 
of  the  outside  library,  only  a  small  number  of  books 
being  borrowed  of  them  by  the  Boston  Library  for  use 
by  our  citizens. 

children's  department. 

This  is  the  most  interesting  as  it  is  one  of  the  most 
useful  departments  in  the  Library.  It  is  required  prim- 
arily because  children  are  unable  to  use  a  catalogue  under- 
standingly.  Books  for  children  must  either  be  selected 
for  them  by  some  older  person,  or  the  children  must  see 
the  books  so  that  they  can  select  for  themselves. 

The  beginning  of  this  department  was  in  a  very  small 
way,  when  the  Central  Library  was  opened  in  the  new 
building  in  Copley  square,  in  1895.     Children  did  not 


[40] 

much  frequent  the  old  Library  building  on  Boylston 
street  where  there  was  no  room  for  them  and  nothing 
to  attract  them.  But  when  the  new  building  was 
opened  children  came  in  large  numbers  and  there  was 
space  for  them  to  run  about.  They  soon  began  to  say : 
"Please  give  me  a  book,"  "  Please,  can  I  see  a  book?" 
and  interfere  more  or  less  with  the  working  of  the 
Library  for  others.  As  an  experiment  a  large  round  table 
was  put  in  a  vacant  room  off  Bates  Hall  and  filled  with 
books  suitable  for  children.  It  was  soon  surrounded 
by  a  fringe  of  small  heads  of  all  colors  intently  examin- 
ing the  books.  Then  another  table  with  books  was 
added,  and  still  another,  until  the  room  was  filled  with 
them.  This,  of  course,  required  an  attendant  for  that 
room,  and  a  competent  woman  was  placed  in  charge 
of  it  to  aid  the  children  and  to  issue  books  to  them 
if  they  had  cards  upon  which  they  could  take  them 
out. 

Six  months  after,  the  Trustees  spent  about  $3,000  in 
purchasing  books  for  children,  and  placed  them  upon 
open  shelves  in  this  room.  Since  that  time  I  think  the 
room  has  been  the  most  interesting  part  of  the  Library. 
Children  of  all  nationalities  use  it,  with  perfect  good 
order,  and  with  a  degree  of  attention  to  the  books 
which  many  older  persons  might  well  emulate. 

Of  course,  the  success  of  this  experiment  at  the 
Central  Library  was  followed  by  a  demand  for  similar 
work  at  the  Branches,  and  one  Branch  after  another 
was  fitted  up  with  what  is  called  a  ''  Children's  Room,'' 
—  a  separate  room  where  space  will  admit,  and  where 


[41] 

sj3ace  does  not  admit  a  part  of  the  larger  room  set 
apart  for  the  use  of  the  children,  —  until  each  Branch 
and  Reading  Room  now  has  special  accommodation  for 
children,  and  special  books  and  pictures  for  their  use. 
At  the  Central  Library  the  care  of  the  Children's 
Room,  issuing  the  books,  answering  questions  for  infor- 
mation, etc.,  requires  the  constant  service  of  four 
competent  persons.  At  the  Branches  and  Reading 
Rooms  this  work  for  children  is  done  by  the  Custodian 
and  assistants. 

The  following  requests  for  help  were  made  of  the 
Custodian  of  the  Children's  Room  at  the  Central 
Library  in  three  days,  and  the  proper  books  to  meet 
their  needs  were  recommended  to  the  applicants.  It  is 
not  always  jDOssible  to  furnish  the  best  book  on  any 
required  subject,  as  it  may  be  out  of  the  Library,  and 
the  books  advised  were  from  those  available  at  the 
time  : 

Story  of  the  Wooden  Horse. 

When  was  the  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic  written  ? 

A  Poem  about  a  boy  pardoned  by  Lincoln. 

Five  requests  for  material   on   both  sides  of  a  debate  on  Chinese 

Immigration. 
Rules  of  order  for  presiding  at  a  debate. 
Music  as  sound,  for  a  composition. 
Battle  of  Lexington. 

Information  about  the  buildings  and  streets  of  Paris. 
Name  of  the  present  Secretary  of  State. 
The  oath  of  Athenian  citizenship. 
Sir  William  Wallace. 

A  request  for  "  Geology"  in  which  to  look  up  ancestors. 
Story  of  Roland. 


[42] 

Story  of  Bayard. 

Story  of  the  golden  touch. 

Comparative  greatness  of  Washington  and  Lincoln. 

A  story  to  read  aloud  to  a  group  of  children. 

Story  of  Massachusetts. 

How  to  organize  a  club. 

Number  of  deaths  from  tuberculosis  each  month  for  two  years. 

Christmas  plays. 

A  piece  to  speak  in  school. 

Pantomimes. 

A  good  book  to  give  an  elevator  boy. 

A  present  to  a  little  gii'l  of  six. 

Description  of  Christmas. 

Description  of  Murillo's  paintings. 

The  Poem,  Night  after  Christmas. 

Many  other  requests  for  poems  and  stories  about  Christmas. 

STORY    TELLING    POR    CHILDREN. 

Story  telling,  by  accomplished  persons,  for  children 
is  now  successfully  practised  at  the  Central  Library  and 
ten  branches  and  stations.  It  is  found  to  be  of  great 
educational  value  for  the  children  and  very  important  in 
causing  them  to  read  books.  The  stories  told  are  the 
old  ones,  like  "  Robin  Hood,''  "  The  Knights  of  King 
Arthur,"  and  other  stories  drawn  from  the  classics  for 
children.  The  demand  for  this  instruction  is  increasing 
rapidly,  and  the  extent  to  which  it  can  be  carried  is 
probably  only  measured  b}^  the  money  which  can  be 
appropriated  for  it. 

EXHIBITIONS    OF   BOOKS,    PICTURES,    ETC. 

When  the  Central  Library  was  opened  in  its  new 
building  in  1895  the  rare  books,  engravings  and  other 


[43] 
treasures  of  the  Library  which  had  been  before  inacces- 
sible to  the  public,  were  placed  upon  exhibition  in  the 
Fine  Arts  Room  from  time  to  time.  This  was  found 
to  be  of  so  much  public  interest  that  exhibitions  of  this 
character  are  now  systematized  and  programmes  of 
them  published  at  the  beginning  of  the  winter  season 
in  connection  Avith  the  programmes  of  lectures. 

The  exhibitions  of  pictures  are  mainly  arranged  to 
illustrate  the  Library  lectures,  but  outside  lectures,  such 
as  those  of  the  Lowell  Institute,  are  also  illustrated  here 
when  practicable,  and  events  either  of  artistic,  historical, 
or  national  importance  are  noticed.  Many  of  the 
exhibits  have  been  lent  by  friends  of  the  Librar}^  as  — 
Issues  of  the  Kelmscott  Press,  Portraits  of  George 
Washington,  Bookplates  by  Boston  artists,  Prayer 
Books,  Fine  Book  Bindings,  the  Joan  of  Arc  exhi- 
bition lent  by  the  Joan  of  Arc  Statue  Committee  of 
Xew  York,  etc. 

Among  the  historical  exhibits  may  be  mentioned 
those  in  celebration  of  the  anniversaries  of  Sebastian 
Cabot,  Americus  Vespucius,  Hans  Holbein,  W.  L. 
Garrison,  H.  W.  Longfellow,  John  Milton,  Charles 
Dickens,  Wendell  Phillips,  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe, 
Transfer  of  the  Bradford  Manuscript,  and  among 
important  events  illustrated,  the  death  of  Pope  Leo 
XIII.,  coronation  of  Edward  YIL,  and  George  Y., 
the  War  with  Spain,  visits  to  Boston  by  Admiral 
Dewey,  by  Prince  Henry  of  Prussia,  and  by  General 
Kuroki  of  Japan,  the  Conventions  of  the  Music 
Teachers'   National   Association,    the   IST.    E.    Histoi-y 


[44] 
Teachers'  Association,  Eastern  Art  and  Manual  Train- 
ing Association,  I^ational  Association  for  the  Promo- 
tion  of  Industrial  Education,  and  the    N^ational    City 
Planning  Conference. 

Exhibitions  of  pictures  are  also  regularly  held  in  the 
Branches  and  Reading  Rooms,  the  programme  of  them 
being  published  in  the  quarterly  bulletin.  The  pictures 
are  mainly  furnished  from  the  Central  Library  and 
hung  upon  rods  in  the  Branches  and  Reading  Rooms. 
They  are  designed  to  illustrate  matters  which  are  of 
immediate  general  interest  to  the  public,  like  the  cruise 
of  the  United  States  Fleet,  which  was  illustrated  each 
month  by  a  different  set  of  pictures  of  scenes  in  the 
different  countries  visited  by  the  fleet;  or  subjects 
which  are  being  studied  at  the  time  by  persons  using 
the  Library.  The  following  list  of  recent  exhibitions 
at  one  Branch  and  one  Reading  Room  may  be  taken 
as  illustrative: 


Branch  Exhibition. 
Industrial  Arts. 
Historic  Boston  Houses. 
American  Cities. 
Alaska  and  the  Eskimos. 
American  Indians. 
Lake  Scenery. 
Mountain  Scenery. 
Children  of  all  Nations. 


Reading  Room  Exhibition. 
Evolution  of  the  Printed  Book. 
Bi'eathing  Places  in  Boston. 
National  Parks. 
Types  of  Slavic  Peoples. 
Foreign  Ports  and  Harbors. 
Opportunities  for  Industrial  Educa- 
tion in  Boston. 
Picturesque  America. 
Old  Washington  Street,  Boston. 


LECTURES. 

Regular  courses  of  lectures  are  now  given  on  Sunday 
afternoons  and  Thursday  evenings,  also  shorter  courses, 


[45] 
under  auspices  of  the  Field  and  Forest  Club  and  the 
Archaeological  Institute  of  America,  admission  to 
which  is  free  to  all,  and  for  which  no  compensation  is 
paid  by  the  Library  to  the  persons  who  lecture.  These 
lectures  are  mostly  on  subjects  connected  with  the  fine 
arts,  and  with  special  regard  to  the  aesthetic  develop- 
ment of  cities.  Connected  courses  on  the  Drama  and 
the  Stage  and  the  History  and  Appreciation  of  Music 
are  included.  Courses  have  also  been  given  on  Civic 
Art,  the  Resources  of  the  Library,  Museum  of  Fine 
Arts,  the  three  Museums  of  Harvard  College  by  the 
Curators  of  each,  the  Harvard  College  Library  by  its 
Librarian,  Library  of  Congress,  etc.  Some  of  the 
lecturers  have  been  Charles  W.  Eliot,  Thomas  W. 
Higginson,  Edward  Everett  Hale,  A.  Lawrence 
Lowell,  Dr.  William  Everett,  and  many  of  the  leading 
Boston  architects. 

The  course  of  lectures  being  delivered  this  season 
includes  among  others,  "  Color  in  Dress,"  "  Welfare 
Work  for  Birds,"  "Conquest  of  the  Ocean,"  "The 
Canadian  Rockies,"  "The  Argentine  Republic,"  "Muni- 
cipal Gymnasiums,"  "  Great  Emigration  Ports,"  "  The 
Cape  Cod  Canal,"  "  IS'ew  Zealand." 

The  recently  erected  Branch  buildings,  at  Jamaica 
Plain,  North  End,  Charlestown  and  East  Boston,  are 
all  provided  with  Lecture  Halls,  where  occasional 
lectures  are  given ;  at  the  North  End  a  course  of 
lectures  in  Italian,  on  the  history  and  art  of  Italy,  was 
recently  given  under  the  auspices  of  the  local  Dante 
Alighieri  Society;  in  this  Branch  a  course  of  seventeen 


[46] 

"  Talks  on  Vocations,"  given  in  cooperation  with  the 
Placement  Bureau  by  prominent  educators  of  Boston, 
is  in  progress  at  present. 

PINES   FOR   DETENTION   OF   BOOKS. 

Books  are  issued  for  home  use  either  for  seven  or 
fourteen  days.  In  order  to  secure  their  return  within 
that  time  a  fine  of  two  cents  a  day  is  imposed  after  the 
expiration  of  the  time,  to  be  paid  by  the  card  holder 
before  any  more  books  are  issued  upon  the  card.  The 
approximate  number  of  persons  paying  such  fines 
during  the  year  1913  was  72,044,  who  paid  an  average 
per  person  of  8.4  cents,  amounting  in  the  aggregate 
to  $6,099.81.  This  was  all  paid  into  the  City  Treasury, 
as  required  by  law,  although  the  work  of  collecting 
and  accounting  for  it  in  such  small  amounts  was  not 
inconsiderable. 

SUPPLIES,   REPAIRS  AND    CONTRACTS. 

'No  supplies  are  purchased  or  repairs  made  without 
vote  of  the  Trustees.  At  each  weekly  meeting  the 
Librarian  submits  a  list  of  these  which,  upon  examina- 
tion and  revision,  is  voted  by  the  Trustees,  and  then 
transmitted  to  the  Library  Auditor  as  authority  foi* 
the  purchase  and  repairs.  All  orders  for  such  supplies 
or  repairs  are  in  writing,  signed  by  the  Librarian,  and 
numbered  to  correspond  with  the  stub  record,  upon 
which  is  minuted  the  date  of  the  list  authorized  by  the 
Trustees  on  which  the  item  appears,  and  the  number 
of  the   item  on  that  list.     Bills  rendered  are  checked 


[47] 

up  from  the  stub  record,  and  the  receipt  of  the  goods 
or  the  completion  of  the  repairs  is  certified  by  the  head 
of  the  department  to  which  the  goods  are  deUvered, 
or  in  which  the  work  is  done,  or  if  the  receipt  is  for 
suppHes  to  be  kept  in  stock  their  receipt  is  certified  by 
the  custodian  of  the  stock  room.  The  bill  then  goes  to 
the  Library  Auditor,  who  certifies  it  as  correctly  fig- 
ured. It  is  then  endorsed  by  the  Librarian,  presented 
to  the  Trustees,  and  its  payment  voted  by  them.  A 
requisition  is  then  drawn  by  the  Library  Auditor  upon 
the  City  Auditor  for  the  payment,  which  is  signed  by 
the  President  of  the  Trustees,  and  attested  by  the 
Clerk  of  the  Corporation. 

Supplies  are  disbursed  from  the  stock  room  only 
upon  requisition  by  the  head  of  each  department  for 
which  any  supply  is  needed,  which  must  be  approved 
by  the  Librarian,  and  is  then  honored  by  the  custodian 
of  the  stock  room,  who  keeps  a  record  showing  all 
purchases,  from  whom  purchased,  amount  paid,  dis- 
tribution by  day,  month  and  year  to  the  several  depart- 
ments of  the  Library,  and  at  the  end  of  each  year 
makes  a  summary  account  showing  under  each  depart- 
ment the  amount  and  cost  of  the  supplies  furnished  to 
it,  itemized  under  the  several  articles. 

The  originals  of  all  contracts  made  are  filed  with  the 
City  Auditor,  and  a  duplicate  copy  with  the  Library 
Auditor,  and  under  the  State  law  requiring  it  a  copy 
of  each  contract  is  also  deposited  in  the  office  of  the 
City  Clerk. 


[48] 


WAGES   AND    SALARIES. 

The  employees  in  the  Binding  and  Printing  Depart- 
ment are  paid  union  wages  and  work  union  hours. 
All  other  employees  who  are  classed  either  as  "  laborers, 
workmen  or  mechanics  "  are  employed  at  wages  prevail- 
ing in  those  employments  and  at  hours  fixed  by  the 
State  law  applicable  to  cities  which  have  accepted  its 
provisions,  as  Boston  has,  at  "■  not  more  than  eight 
hours  in  any  one  calendar  day,  or  more  than  forty-eight 
hours  in  any  one  week." 

The  other  employees  of  the  Library,  constituting 
the  regular  Library  staff,  to  which  I  have  before 
referred,  are  two  hundred  thirty-eight  in  number. 
These  employees  are  paid  salaries  fixed  by  votes  of  the 
Trustees,  and  of  these  employees  69  are  males  and  169 
are  females.  The  average  compensation  of  all  these 
persons,  including  the  Librarian,  Assistant  Librarian 
and  Heads  of  Departments,  is  $715  a  year,  the  average 
of  all  the  males  being  $932  and  of  the  females  $626  a 
year. 

Excluding  the  Librarian,  Assistant  Librarian  and 
nine  other  persons  employed  as  Heads  of  Departments, 
the  average  salary  paid  to  the  remaining  227  persons  is 
$637  a  year.  Of  these  227  persons,  60  are  males,  who 
receive  the  average  salary  of  $673  a  year,  and  167  are 
females,  who  receive  the  average  salary  of  $621:  a  year. 

The  Custodians  of  Branches,  which  are  really  libra- 
ries in  themselves,  are  all  women,  and  the  highest 
salary  paid  to  any  one  of  them  is  $1,000  a  year. 


[49] 

A  vacation  without  loss  of  j^ay  is  allowed  to  each 
employee  in  the  regular  force  of  two  clays  in  each 
month,  or  twenty-four  days  for  each  full  year's  service. 
One-half  of  this  vacation  is  allowed  to  all  other 
employees.  Beyond  this  no  person  is  paid  while  not 
actually  on  duty,  except  by  special  vote  of  the  Trustees 
in  an  occasional  case  of  extreme  hardship  from  sickness. 

'No  person  is  added  to  the  regular  pay-roll,  nor  is 
the  salary  of  any  employee  on  the  pay-roll  increased, 
without  a  specific  vote  of  the  Trustees  in  the  form  of 
an  order  in  each  case,  an  attested  copy  of  which  is 
filed  with  the  City  Auditor. 

PUBLICITY    OF    THE    LIBRARY    WORK. 

The  following  regular  reports  and  official  statements 
are  made  relating  to  the  administration  of  the  Library : 

1.  A  monthly  report  is  made  to  the  Mayor  showing 
the  receipts  and  expenditures  for  the  current  month. 

2.  A  complete  statement  must  be  made  to  the 
Mayor,  for  printing  in  a  report  issued  May  1st  in  each 
year,  showing  the  name,  residence,  rate  of  salary  or 
wage  and  the  kind  of  work  done  by  each  employee. 

3.  An  annual  report  is  made  by  the  Trustees  to  the 
Mayor,  and  with  this  are  incorporated  the  reports  of 
the  Librarian  and  Library  Auditor  showing  in  detail 
the  condition  and  operations  of  the  Librai-y  for  the 
year,  and  also  the  report  of  the  Examining  Committee. 
This  annual  report  is  printed  and  publicly  circulated, 
sent  to  the  press  and  to  other  libraries. 

4.  The   weekly   pay-rolls    are   made   in    duplicate, 


[50] 

showing  the  name  of  each  person  employed,  the  char- 
acter of  the  service  performed,  the  rate  of  salary  or 
wage,  and  the  amount  payable  to  every  such  person  for 
the  week.  These  are  prepared  and  signed  by  the 
Library  Auditor,  and  aftei-  the  approval  attested  by 
signature  of  the  Librarian,  must  be  signed  and  sworn 
to  by  the  President  of  the  Trustees.  Each  set  of  rolls 
requires  19  large  sheets.  They  are  sent  to  the  State 
Civil  Service  Commission,  and  their  certification  of 
approval  affixed,  after  which  one  set  is  sent  to  the  City 
Auditor  as  the  warrant  for  the  weekly  payment  of  the 
employees,  and  the  duplicate  set  is  filed  in  the  office  of 
the  State  Commission. 

5.  Besides  these  regular  reports  and  statements 
others  are  made  from  time  to  time  as  requested  by  the 
Mayor  or  other  officials  entitled  to  receive  them. 

6.  The  bulletins,  weekly  lists  of  books  added  to  the 
Libi-ary,  special  finding-lists  issued  from  time  to  time, 
and  othei"  libi-ary  publications  also  give  information 
as  to  the  work  of  the  Library. 

An  Examining  Committee  is  also  annually  appointed 
of  citizens  residing  in  different  parts  of  the  City  to 
examine  the  Library  and  report  upon  its  condition  and 
operation  as  required  by  the  City  ordinance.  Their 
report  is  required  to  be  printed  with  the  annual  report 
of  the  Trustees  to  the  City  government,  and  is  of 
much  value  in  the  working  of  the  Library.  Our  most 
eminent  citizens  have  been  willing  to  serve  on  this 
important  Committee.  Among  others  may  be  men- 
tioned   Phillips    Brooks,    William    Byrne,   Patrick   A. 


[51] 
Collins,  Samuel  Eliot,  Ileiiry  L.  Pierce,  William  H. 
Prescott,  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  Alexander  H.  Rice, 
Benjamin  F.  Thomas,  George  Ticknor,  Carroll  D. 
W>ight,  Walbridge  A.  Field,  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  Robert  Grant,  Hasket  Derby,  Robert 
C.  Winthrop,  and  Lucius  Tuttle. 

LIBRARY    REVENUE. 

Strictly  speaking  the  Library  as  such  has  no  revenue. 
It  has  only  receipts  which  must  be  paid  into  the  City 
Treasury  as  follows,  viz.,  in  1913-14: 

From  sale  of  Catalogues,  etc $67.52 

From  pay  telephone  commission 227.10 

Sale  of  waste  paper 94.88 

Money  found 14.64 

Fines  for  detention  of  books 6,099.81 

Substantially  all  the  money  which  the  Trustees  can 
use  for  the  maintenance  and  working  of  the  library 
system  comes  from  the  annual  appropriation  by  the 
City  Council.  The  income  from  Trust  funds,  that  is, 
property  given  to  the  Trustees  in  trust  for  the  uses  of 
the  Library,  amounts  to  about  $17,500  a  yeai-.  These 
funds  are  by  law  required  to  be  invested  by  the  City 
Treasurer  under  the  direction  of  the  Finance  Com- 
mittee of  the  City,  and  are  invested  in  bonds  of  the 
City,  which  makes  the  income  from  them  small. 

January  1,  1914,  $466,917  of  these  Trust  funds  was 
invested  in  City  bonds.  Of  this  $10,500  bore  three 
per  cent  interest;  $202,800  three  and  a  half  })er  cent; 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


[52] 

$253,450  four  per  cent.  The  income  received  from  them 
annually  is  $17,551.  This  income  can  only  be  used  for 
the  specific  purposes  of  the  several  trusts  under  which  it 
is  held,  which  vary  widely.  Some  are  for  the  purchase 
of  books  for  a  separate  branch;  some  for  the  addition  of 
books  to  special  collections,  such  as  books  on  govern- 
ment and  political  economy,  books  in  the  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  languages,  valuable  rare  editions  of  books, 
books  of  a  mihtary  and  patriotic  character,  books  in 
memory  of  specific  persons,  and  in  one  case  only  for 
books  published  before  1850. 

The  appropriations  by  the  City  Council  are  made 
upon  detailed  estimates  annually  submitted  by  the 
Trustees  to  the  Mayor,  showing  what  they  think  will 
be  required  for  the  work  of  the  Library  during  the  next 
financial  year.  These  estimates  are  made  in  detail,  and 
show  in  parallel  columns  the  amount  expended  in  the 
previous  year  for  each  item  of  expense,  as  for  instance, 
fuel,  postage,  salaries,  printing,  supplies,  etc.,  and  the 
amount  estimated  to  be  required  for  the  same  item  the 
next  year,  with  a  specific  note  of  the  increase  or 
decrease  in  each  item.  These  estimates  are  transmitted 
to  the  City  Council  by  the  Mayor  with  his  statement 
of  the  total  amount  he  recommends  should  be  appro- 
priated, and  the  City  Council  then  appropriate  a  total 
amount  which  the  Trustees  are  to  spend  upon  the 
Library  for  the  next  year. 

The  Trustees  have  no  control  over  the  amount  of 
money  which  is  to  be  made  available  to  them  for  the 
work  of  the  Library.     They  must  maintain  and  work 


[53] 
the  Library  as  well  as  they  can  upon  the  amount  which 
the  City  Council  appropiiate.  During  the  i)ast  ten 
years  the  estimates  of  the  Trustees,  the  recommenda- 
tions by  the  Mayor,  and  the  amounts  appropriated  by 
the  City  Council  have  been  as  follows : 


1904 
1905 
1906 
1907 
1908 
1909 
1910 
1911 
1912 
1913 


Estimates 
OP  Trustees. 


$320,414.00 
325,466.00 
324,550.00 
326,100.00 
332,800.00 
335,200.00 
351,978.00 
359,497.00 
374,665.00 
391.996.00 


Amounts 

Recommended 

BY  Mayor. 


$300,000.00 
310,000.00 
320,000.00 
325,000.00 
325,000.00 
335,200.00 
351,978.00 
355,200.00 
367,165.00 
380,000.00 


Amounts 

Appropriated 

BT  City  Council. 


$305,000.00 
310,000.00 
324,550.00 
325,000.00 
310,000.00 
349,455.00 
351,978.00 
355,200.00 
367,165.00 
380,000.00 


The  appropriations  for  these  ten  years  have  averaged 
|6,431  less  than  the  estimates  of  the  Board.  In  1906 
and  1910  the  appropriations  equalled  the  estimates,  but 
in  1913  the  appropriation  was  $11,996  less  than  the 
estimate.  This  is  not  said  by  way  of  complaint,  because 
I  am  aware  of  the  limitations  which  necessarily  govern 
the  Council  in  making  appropriations  for  maintenance. 
It  is  only  stated  to  dispel  the  illusion  which  many  per- 


[54] 

sons  seem  to  have  that  the  Trustees  have  only  to  ask 
for  money  to  get  it. 

The  percentage  of  increase  in  these  appropriations 
during  these  years  has  been  about  the  same  as  the 
percentage  of  increase  in  the  population  of  the  city 
during  that  time.  But  although  the  service  of  the 
Library  has  been  extended  in  various  directions  for  the 
public  convenience  the  Trustees  have  not  been  able 
to  spend  more  than  the  amount  annually  appropriated 
for  it,  nor  have  they  received  by  transfer,  or  otherwise, 
anything  from  the  city  treasury  in  addition  to  the 
amount  of  the  appropriation  in  each  year. 

The  principal  increase  in  the  expense  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  Library  since  1904  has  been  caused  by  the 
establishment  of  Reading  Rooms  and  delivery  stations, 
now  in  every  case  transformed  into  Reading  Rooms, 
in  different  parts  of  the  city,  by  means  of  which  the 
people  in  outlying  districts  have  the  collections  of  the 
Central  Library  brought  near  to  them,  and  may  receive 
books  therefrom,  without  the  necessity  of  coming  to 
the  Central  Library  Building  in  Copley  square.  The 
work  of  the  Branches  and  Reading  Rooms,  including 
important  work  with  the  schools  of  the  city,  is  of  very 
great  benefit  to  the  various  parts  of  the  city  in  which 
they  are  located,  and  promotes  the  convenience  of  the 
public  by  extending  their  use  of  the  Library. 

The  payments  made  from  the  city  appropriations  for 
the  expenses  of  the  Central  Library,  including  the 
printing  and  binding  departments,  increased  from  1904 
to  1914  less  than  two  per  cent,  while  the  payments  from 


[55] 

the    same    source  for  the    expenses  of  Branches    and 
Reading  Rooms  increased  about  twenty-five  per  cent. 

COMPARATIVE    EXPENSES   FOR   MAINTENANCE. 

Boston  expends  annually  for  free  public  libraries 
$45.83  as  against  $54.17  expended  in  all  the  other  32 
cities  in  the  Commonwealth  combined,  that  is  to  say, 
with  a  population  of  only  41  5/10  per  cent  of  the  popu- 
lation in  the  other  32  cities  combined,  Boston  spends 
annually  for  public  library  purposes  84  6/10  per  cent  of 
the  entire  aggregate  ex2)ense  of  all  the  other  32  cities 
for  similar  purposes.  Or,  stated  in  another  form,  with  a 
population  four-tenths  as  large  as  the  combined  popu- 
lation of  the  other  32  cities  combined  Boston  expends 
for  public  library  maintenance  more  than  eight-tenths 
as  much  as  the  other  32  cities  combined. 

Boston  expends  annually  for  public  library  purposes 
about  56  cents  per  capita  of  all  its  population;  Avhile 
the  other  32  cities  expend  only  27  1/2  cents  per  capita 
for  their  entire  combined  population. 

The  expense  for  public  library  purposes  in  the  towns 
of  the  Commonwealth  is  not  reported  so  as  to  be  avail- 
able for  comparison,  but  if  such  expense  corresponds 
with  the  value  of  the  property  put  to  public  library 
uses  in  the  towns,  which  may  perhaps  be  fairly 
assumed,  it  would  appear  that  Boston,  with  less  than 
20  per  cent  of  the  aggregate  population  of  all  the  other 
cities  and  towns  in  the  Commonwealth,  expends  for 
public  library  purposes  about  71  per  cent  of  the  expense 
for  similar  purposes  by  all  the  other  cities  and  towns. 


[56] 
In  this  connection  it  may  be  noted  that  Boston 
spends  annually  for  all  municipal  purposes  $26.69  per 
capita  of  its  population,  while  the  other  32  cities 
together  expend  annually  for  similar  purposes  only 
f  1.3.97  per  capita  of  their  combined  population.  The 
average  annual  expense  per  capita  for  municipal  pur- 
poses of  all  the  cities  including  Boston  is  $17.70,  vary- 
ing from  $9.58  in  Chicopee  to  $26.69  in  Boston. 

If  it  is  asked  why  the  working  of  the  Boston  Public 
Library  should  be  so  much  more  expensive  than  the 
working  of  the  libraries  of  other  cities  in  Massa- 
chusetts the  answer  is  obvious.  First,  because  the 
Boston  Public  Library  is  much  larger  and  is  worked  to 
a  greater  degree  of  efficiency  than  the  other  libraries. 
It  has  more  to  do  with  and  it  does  more  with  what 
it  has  than  the  other  libraries.  It  does  more  things 
to  cause  books  and  other  library  material  to  be 
conveniently  and  extensively  used,  and  it  works  over 
a  very  much  larger  area  and  with  more  diiferent 
instrumentalities  than  the  other  libraries. 

Second,  because  it  is  the  only  great  free  library 
for  all  the  people  of  Massachusetts.  The  Common- 
wealth gave  the  City  of  Boston  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  land  upon  which  the  Central  Library  building 
stands  upon  condition  that  the  building  erected  thereon, 
and  its  contents,  should  at  all  times  be  free  to  the  use 
of  all  citizens  of  the  Commonwealth.  The  land  thus 
given  to  the  city  for  this  purpose  is  now  worth  about 
$1,000,000  as  land.  The  Library  is  also  the  only  free 
scholars'  library  in  Massachusetts,  that  is  to  say,  it  is 


[57J 

the  only  free  library  where  scholars  can  conduct 
scholarly  research.  It  is  situated  at  the  center  of  a 
district  containing  at  least  a  million  and  a  half  people 
who  can  by  modern  means  of  communication  go  to  the 
Library  and  return  to  their  homes  each  day,  and  many 
of  them  do  so.  The  citizen  of  Lowell  or  of  Taunton, 
or  of  any  other  place  within  no  greater  distance  from 
Boston,  who  wishes  to  use  a  library  in  the  preparation 
of  a  book,  or  in  some  matter  of  scholarly  research, 
would  not  go  to  his  local  library  because  he  would 
know  that  while  he  might  find  there  some  of  the 
material  required,  he  would  not  find  sufficient  for  his 
purpose,  and  therefore  he  would  go  to  the  Boston 
Public  Library,  where  he  would  find  a  larger  amount 
of  material  than  could  possibly  be  given  by  any  other 
free  library  in  the  Commonwealth. 

The  result,  therefore,  is  to  throw  upon  the  tax- 
payers of  Boston  not  only  the  expense  of  working  the 
books  and  material  of  its  own  library  for  the  benefit  of 
its  own  citizens,  but  also  the  expense  of  working  much 
of  its  books  and  library  material  for  the  benefit  of  all 
the  citizens  of  the  Commonwealth  who  desire  to  use  it. 
Every  municipality  within  fifty  miles  of  Boston  governs 
its  own  library  expenditures  for  buildings,  books  and 
maintenance  by  this  fact.  It  knows  that,  as  its  people 
who  require  the  most  expensive  books,  the  most  valu- 
able library  material  for  their  use,  will  find  them  in  the 
Boston  Public  Library,  therefore  it  does  not  need  to 
provide  them  itself. 

To  illustrate,  —  the  town  of  Brookline,  with  ample 


[58] 

means  to  build  an  expensive  library  building,  did,  as  I 
am  told,  reduce  the  cost  of  the  building  to  be  erected 
to  a  much  less  sum  than  was  originally  proposed, 
because  it  was  said  that  every  inhabitant  of  Brookhne 
could  go  and  come  from  the  Boston  Public  Library 
and  use  that. 

It  is  also  true  that  the  expense  of  working  a  large 
library  system  over  a  large  area  is  proportionately 
greater  than  the  expense  of  working  a  small  library. 

One  peculiarity  of  the  working  of  a  library  system 
is  that  the  expense  and  waste  of  the  worling  increases 
disproportionately  to  the  additiotis  which  are  made  to 
the  collection.  A  library  system  is  like  a  telephone 
system,  where  each  additional  subscriber  dispropor- 
tionately increases  the  cost  of  working  the  whole 
system.  The  expense  and  waste  of  efficiently  working 
a  collection  of  a  million  books  is  more  than  ten  times 
as  great  as  the  expense  and  waste  of  working  one 
hundred  thousand  books,  because  each  book  is  worked 
in  connection  with  every  other. 

As  it  is  true  that  the  Public  Library  system  is  of 
value  only  as  it  is  used,  and  that  to  produce  the 
utmost  value  from  its  use  it  should  be  used  to  the  limit 
of  its  capacity,  so  it  is  equally  true  that  the  increasing 
use  of  it  produces  a  disproportionately  greater  increase 
in  the  expense  and  waste  of  working.  Books  that 
are  transported  frequently  and  over  a  large  area  of 
use  wear  out  proportionately  faster  than  they  would  if 
they  were  transported  less  frequently  and  over  a  smaller 
area. 


[59] 
Again,  books  for  genei-al  use  wear  out  very  rapidly. 
Volumes  that  are  purchased  at  an  average  cost  of 
$1.02,  which,  as  I  have  said,  is  the  average  price  paid 
for  books  bought  with  appropriations  by  the  City 
Council,  are  not  only  books  which  wear  out  because 
they  are  in  constant  use,  but  they  are  necessarily  of 
such  paper,  typography,  and  binding  as  to  wear  out 
rapidly  by  use.  The  cost  of  replacing  such  books, 
either  with  new  books  of  the  same  kind  or  with  new 
editions  or  other  books  upon  the  same  subject,  is  veiy 
great,  and  causes  a  great  and  constantly  increasing 
expense. 

PURPOSE    OF    THE    PUBLIC   LIBRARY. 

The  primary  purpose  of  a  free  public  library,  sup- 
ported by  taxation,  is  to  give  the  use  of  good  books 
and  other  educational  library  material  to  persons  who 
might  not  otherwise  enjoy  such  use.  But  it  is  also  of 
great  public  importance  that  a  library  should  within 
the  means  at  its  command  afford  opportunity  for  study 
and  research  by  scholars  and  students.  In  doing  this 
our  Library  supplements  the  work  of  our  public  schools 
and  of  the  university.  It  places  the  highest  special 
knowledge  at  the  service  of  all  our  citizens  without 
charge  and  without  unnecessary  detail  or  formality. 
It  touches  the  elementary  and  common  need,  and  begins 
with  the  child  who  has  just  learned  to  read  and  aids 
him  in  the  common  school.  To  most  of  the  graduates 
of  our  grammar  schools  who  pass  at  once  into  active 
life,  the  Library  stands  in  place  of  the  high  school,  the 


[60] 

academy  and  the  college,  and  it  is  to  them  a  university. 
In  the  aggregate  of  all  its  services,  the  Boston  Public 
Library  should  be  and  I  believe  is  in  itself  a  system  of 
education  for  all  and  free  to  all. 

The  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the  education 
given  by  a  public  library  is  that  it  is  not  imposed 
upon  the  person  who  has  it.  The  education  of  the 
schools  is  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  imposed  upon 
those  vv^ho  receive  it,  and  it  is  necessarily  general  in 
its  character,  without  regard,  to  any  great  extent,  to 
the  individual  needs  of  the  persons  who  receive  it. 
The  schools  must  educate  persons  in  classes  and  upon 
general  lines  of  knowledge.  The  Library,  however, 
educates  only  in  response  to  individual  wants  and 
demands.  Everything  that  is  done  by  it  is  done  in 
response  to  requests  from  individuals  who  ask  for  that 
which  they  each  want  most.  Every  one  of  the  one 
million  six  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  volumes  issued 
by  the  Boston  Public  Library  in  a  year  for  direct  home 
use  is  issued  because  some  particular  person  wants  that 
book.  Every  book  consulted  in  the  Central  Library  or 
its  Branches  or  Reading  Rooms,  every  newspaper  con- 
sulted, every  manuscript,  every  picture  furnished  for  use 
is  furnished  because  some  particular  person  asked  for 
it,  presumably  because  he  needed  it.  It  is  obvious  that 
education  of  this  kind  is  likely  to  be  more  effective  in 
the  development  of  individuals  along  the  lines  of  which 
they  are  each  capable  than  any  system  of  education  which 
deals  with  individuals  in  classes,  and  imposes  upon  them 
certain  required  courses  of  study  and  investigation. 


[61] 

One  of  the  most  interesting  things  about  the  Boston 
Pubhc  Library  is  the  extent  to  which  it  has  been 
created,  developed,  and  worked  by  voluntary  and  unpaid 
service.  jN^one  of  its  Trustees  has  ever  received  any 
compensation,  a  large  part  of  its  collections  have  been 
given  to  it,  while  nearly  five  hundred  citizens  have 
served  from  time  to  time  upon  its  important  Examining 
Committee,  many  of  whom  have  given  much  time  and 
performed  excellent  service  in  that  capacity.  I  am 
sure  there  is  no  similar  institution  anywhere  which  has 
been  promoted  and  developed  by  more  unselfish,  con- 
stant, and  effective  civic  efibrt.  The  City  government 
representing  the  taxpayers  has  also  been  liberal  in  its 
appropriations  for  the  support  of  the  Library.  In  its 
appropriation  for  the  erection  of  the  Central  Library 
building  Boston  has  been  munificent  beyond  any  other 
American  city. 

All  this  has  been,  I  believe,  because  the  Library  has 
been  a  library  for  the  people,  free  to  all,  for  the  intelli- 
gent education  of  all. 

It  was  the  original  design  of  the  wise,  sagacious,  and 
public-spirited  citizens  who  promoted  the  foundation  of 
this  great  Public  Library  that  it  should  be  a  means  of 
education  for  all.  Such  has  been  the  course  of  its 
development  up  to  this  time,  and  such,  I  believe,  should 
be  its  future  development.  Of  course,  this  means  con- 
stantly increasing  appropriations  of  money  by  the  tax- 
payers. In  my  judgment  the  proper  maintenance  and 
working  of  the  Library  system  as  it  is  now  maintained 
and  worked  as  a  means  of  popular  education,  for  which 


[62] 

taxation  can  be  well  justified,  now  requires  an  annual 
appropriation  of  not  less  than  $450,000.  Without  this, 
the  Library  system  will  fail  to  be  efficiently  worked  to 
its  capacity  for  the  education  of  our  people,  and  its 
usefulness  will  surely  decrease.  The  Library  cannot 
simply  mark  time.  It  must  either  march  forward,  or 
fall  behind  in  its  work. 

I  know  the  sum  I  have  named  is  a  large  sum  of 
money,  but  it  is  only  two  one-hundredths  of  one  per 
cent  of  the  tax  valuation  of  the  City  and  only  one  and 
fifty-eight  one-hundredths  per  cent  of  the  annual  tax 
appropriation.  I  believe  it  will  be  well  spent  in  aiding 
to  produce  that  intelligence  of  our  people  upon  which 
security  of  person  and  property  in  a  free  state  must 
ultimately  depend. 

Cities  and  states  are  not  made  great  by  economy, 
but  rather  by  judicious  and  even  lavish  expenditure 
for  proper  public  purposes.  It  is  true  in  civil  as  in 
personal  affairs  that  "  There  is  that  scattereth  and  yet 
increaseth;  and  there  is  that  withholdeth  more  than 
is  meet,  but  it  tendeth  to  poverty."  No  money  spent 
for  the  education  of  the  people,  whose  intelligence  is 
the  only  basis  of  good  government,  is  ever  wasted. 
Property  in  a  civilized  state  is  only  a  creation  of  the 
law  of  the  state.  Our  title  to  our  houses  and  lands,  to 
the  goods  and  wares  in  our  shops  and  stores,  to  the 
stocks,  bonds,  and  other  obligations  which  we  call 
investments,  depends  solely  upon  the  law  which  secures 
us  in  the  enjoyment  of  them  and  permits  us  to  trans- 
mit them  to  our  children  and  others  by  will. 


[63] 
This  law  i-ests  either  upon  that  inteUigenee  which 
creates  just  laws  and  causes  them  to  be  willingly 
obeyed,  or  upon  force,  which  compels  them  to  be 
obeyed.  Security  of  property,  therefore,  depends  upon 
education  or  upon  force,  and  I  believe  that  free  public 
libraries  worked  for  the  education  of  the  people  are 
better  safeguards  of  the  rights  of  person  and  property 
than  policemen  and  battalions. 


INDEX. 


Adams  library.  See  John  Adams  li- 
brary. 

Alden,  John,  7. 

Allen  A.  Brown  Dramatic  library,  32. 

Allen  A.  Brown  Music  library,  32,  35. 

Americana,  Prince  collection  of.  See 
Prince  library. 

Appropriations  by  City  Council  for 
Library  maintenance,  51-54;  for 
Central  Library  building,  61 ;  con- 
stantly increasing  appropriations 
necessary  for  efficient  working  of 
the  Library,  61-63. 

Auditor,  City,  47,  49,  50. 

Auditor,  Library,  11,  46,  47,  49,  50. 

Barton,  Cora  Livingston,  her  gener- 
osity in  matter  of  Barton  library, 
32. 

Barton  library,  32,  35. 

Bates  Hall  Reading  Room,  19  ;  use  of, 
20,  21. 

Bindery,  6. 

Bonds  owned  by  Library,  51. 

Books,  number  of,  in  Library,  5. 

Boston  Town  House,  circulating  pub- 
lic library  in,  1. 

Boston  Public  Library,  establishment 
of,  1 ;  size  and  expense  of,  first 
year  compared  with  present,  1,  2  ; 
administration  of,  2 ;  Trustees, 
appointment,  powers,  and  duties 
of,  2;  real  estate  held  by,  3; 
extent  of  floor  area,  3 ;  Central 
Library  building  an  architectural 
monument,  3  ;  its  decorations  and 
works  of  art,  3,  4,  6 ;  machinery 
and  appliances,  4 ;  seating  capac- 


ity, 4 ;  lecture  room,  4 ;  heating 
and  lighting,  4 ;  general  care  of 
building,  4,  5  ;  books,  manuscripts, 
etc.,  owned  by  the  Library,  5; 
Branches,  5;  catalogues,  5,  6; 
printing  office  and  bindery,  6 ; 
newspapers  and  periodicals  taken, 
6 ;  value  of  property,  6,  7,  8  ;  gifts, 
6,  7  ;  special  collections,  7,  17,  32  ; 
value  of  library  property  in  Boston 
as  compared  with  other  cities  of 
the  state,  8,  9 ;  current  additions 
to  the  Library,  9 ;  current  ex- 
penses, 9 ;  method  of  purchasing 
books,  10 ;  general  remarks  on 
working  of  the  Library,  11 ;  cata- 
loguing, 12-16;  shelving,  16,  17; 
the  Library  staff,  17  ;  Sunday  and 
evening  service,  17,  18 ;  grades, 
18;  working  hours,  18,  19;  depart- 
ments, 19,  20;  circulation,  20,  21; 
Central  Library  and  Branches 
worked  as  a  unit,  21,  22  ;  coopera- 
tion with  schools,  etc.,  22-26  ;  help 
given  to  individual  readers,  2G ; 
inquiries  received,  26-30;  service 
to  scholarship,  30-34;  importance 
of  special  libraries,  35 ;  News- 
paper Room,  endowment,  equip- 
ment, and  use  of,  36,  37 ;  inter- 
library  loans,  38,  39;  Children's 
Department,  39-42 ;  story-telling 
for  children,  42 ;  exhibitions  of 
books,  pictures,  etc.,  42-44;  lec- 
tures, 44-46;  fines,  46;  supplies, 
repairs  and  contracts,  46,  47 ; 
wages  and  salaries,  48  ;  vacations. 


[65] 


[ 

49;  reports,  official  statements, 
etc.,  49,  50;  pay-rolls,  49,  50; 
bulletins,  finding-lists  and  other 
publications,  50;  Examining  Com- 
mittee, 60,  51;  revenue  and  ap- 
propriations, 51-55 ;  comparative 
expenses  of  maintenance,  55-59 ; 
purpose  of  the  Library,  59-61 ; 
appeal  for  larger  appropriation, 
61-63. 

Bowditch,  Dr.  Nathaniel,  gift  of  math- 
ematical library  from,  32. 

Bowditch  library,  32. 

Bradford,  Gov.  William,  autograph 
manuscript  of ,  in  Chamberlain  col- 
lection, 7 ;  exhibition  occasioned 
by  recovery  of  his  manuscript 
history  of  Plymouth  Colony,  43. 

Branch  Department,  20. 

Branches  and  Reading  Rooms,  11 ; 
equipment  of,  5,  6;  "extra"  ser- 
vice in,  18 ;  working  hours  in, 
18,  19 ;  circulation  through,  20, 
21-24;  unity  of,  with  Central 
Library,  21,  22;  lists  of  inquiries 
received  at,  26-28 ;  periodicals 
taken  at,  37,  38  ;  children's  depart- 
ments in,  40,  41 ;  story-telling 
provided,  42 ;  exhibitions  of  pic- 
tures held,  44 ;  lecture  halls  in 
recently  erected  Branch  buildings, 
46 ;  salary  of  Custodians,  48 ; 
expense  of  maintaining,  54,  55. 

British  Museum  Catalogue,  12  (note). 

Broadway  Extension  Reading  Room, 
inquiries  received  at,  28. 

Brookline  Public  Library,  57,  58. 

Brooks,  Phillips,  member  of  Examin- 
ing Committee,  50. 

Brown  Dramatic  library.  See  Allen 
A.  Brown  Dramatic  library. 

Brown  Music  library.  See  Allen  A. 
Brown  Music  library. 

Bulletins,  finding-lists,  etc.,  50. 

Byrne,  William,  member  of  Examin- 
ing Committee,  60. 


66] 

Cards,  issuance  of  books  by,  22. 

Catalogue  Department,  work  of,  11, 
14,  15,  16;  organization  of,  19, 

Catalogues,  5,  6;  importance  of,  12, 
14  ;  card  catalogue  used,  12  ;  prin- 
ciples of  its  construction,  12,  13, 
15;  size  of  catalogue,  15. 

Central  Library  building,  Copley 
Square,  an  architectural  monu- 
ment, 3  ;  its  decorations  and  works 
of  art,  3,  4,  6 ;  machinery  and 
appliances,  care  of,  etc.,  4,  5; 
date  of  opening,  39. 

Chamberlain  manuscript  collection,  7, 
33. 

Charging  system,  by  cards,  22. 

Children's  Department,  19 ;  origin  of, 
39, 40 ;  equipment  of,  40,  41 ;  intro- 
duction of  Children's  Rooms  in 
Branches,  40,  41;  inquiries  re- 
ceived, 41,  42;  story-telling,  42. 

Circulation,  20,  21,  24,  34. 

City  Auditor.     See  Auditor,  City. 

City  government.  Trustees  report  to, 
50;  liberality  of,  61. 

City  Treasurer,  Library  funds  invested 
by,  51. 

City  Clerk,  copies  of  Library  contracts 
deposited  with,  47. 

City  Council,  appropriations  of,  for 
maintenance  of  Library.  See 
Appropriations. 

Civil  Service  Commission  of  Massa- 
chusetts, Trustees  approved  by, 
2  ;  pay-rolls  certified  by,  50. 

Classification,  13,  14. 

Collins,  Patrick,  member  of  Examining 
Committee,  50,  51. 

Contracts,  filing  of,  47. 

Conventioni,  exhibitions  in  honor  of, 
43,  44. 

Curtis,  Edward  S.,  his  work  on  North 
American  Indians,  9,  10. 

Custodians  of  Branches,  48. 


[67] 


Dante  Alighieri  Society,  lectures  un- 
der auspices  of,  at  North  End 
Branch,  45. 

Delivery  stations,  54. 

Department  of  Patents,  16,  19 ;  in- 
crease in  use  of,  35,  36. 

Department  of  Statistics  and  Docu- 
ments, 19;  use  of,  35. 

Departments,  organization  of,  19. 

Derby,  Basket,  member  of  Examining 
Committee,  51. 

Dramatic  library.  See  Allen  A.  Brown 
Dramatic  library. 

Education  greatly  promoted  by  li- 
braries, 59-63. 

Eliot,  Samuel,  member  of  Examining 
Committee,  51. 

Endowment.     See  Trust  funds. 

Engine  houses,  library  service  at,  23. 

Estimates  of  appropriations  needed, 
52,  53. 

Examining  Committee,  49;  extract 
from  report  of,  relating  to  cata- 
loguing, 15,  16  ;  appointment  and 
work  of,  50 ;  citizens  who  have 
served  on,  50,  51,  61. 

Executive  Department,  19. 

Exhibitions  of  books,  pictures,  etc., 
42-44  ;  historical  exhibits,  43. 

Expense  of  maintenance,  53,  54  ;  causes 
of  increase,  54,  58,  59;  compari- 
son with  other  cities  of  the  State, 
55-58. 

Express  service,  use  of.  See  Trans- 
portation. 

Field,  Walbridge  A.,  member  of  Ex- 
amining Committee,  51. 

Finance  Committee,  approves  invest- 
ment of  Library  funds,  51. 

Fine  Arts  Department,  use  of,  35 ; 
exhibitions  in,  43. 

Fines,  system  and  amount  of,  46,  51. 

Foreigners,  their  use  of  the  Periodical 
Room,  37. 

Funds.     See  Trust  funds. 


Grant,  Robert,  member  of  Examining 
Committee,  51. 

Gratuitous  service  of  Trustees  and 
others,  to  Library,  61. 

Grimani  Breviary,  9. 

Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  member  of 
Examining  Committee,  51. 

Income  of  the  Library :  from  trust 
funds,  51,  52;  annual  appropria- 
tions by  City  Council,  51-54. 

Inquiries  of  readers,  received  at  Cen- 
tral Library  and  Branches,  26-30, 
38,  41,  42. 

Institutions,  library  service  at,  23. 

Inter-library  loans,  38,  39. 

Issue  Department,  19. 

John  Adams  library,  32. 

Labor  laws,  as  affecting  library  work, 
22,  48. 

Lantern  slides  owned  by  Library,  5. 

Law,  state,  relating  to  Boston  Public 
Library,  2. 

Lecture  halls  in  new  Branch  buildings, 
45. 

Lectures,  purpose  and  subjects  of, 
45;  noted  lecturers  who  have 
spoken,  45. 

Librarian,  19,  46,  47,  49 ;  appointed 
by  Trustees,  2. 

Loans  to  the  Library,  for  exhibition, 
43. 

Manuscripts  in  the  Library,  5. 

Maps,  5. 

Massachusetts,  contributes  part  of 
land  occupied  by  Central  Library, 
56 ;  its  citizens  have  free  use  of 
Library,  5G,  57. 

Mathematical  and  astronomical  library. 
See  Bowditch  library. 

Mayor,  reports  of  Library  work  made 
to,  49 ;  appropriations  recom- 
mended by,  52,  53. 

Mayflower,  ship,  7. 

Music  library.  See  Allen  A.  Brown 
Music  library. 


[68] 


Newspaper    Room,    19 ;     endowed    by 
William  C.  Todd,  36 ;  equipment, 
use  and  care  of,  36,  37. 
North   American  Indians,  E.  S.  Cur- 

tis's  work  on,  9,  10. 
Old  State  House,  attempts  to  maintain 

library  in,  1. 
Open  shelves,  use  of,  16,  34. 
Ordering   I3epartment,    19 ;    work  of, 

10,  11. 
Parker  library,  7,  32. 
Patent    Room.     See    Department     of 

Patents. 
Pay-rolls,  49,  50. 
Periodical  Room,    19 ;  equipment  and 

use  of,  37,  38. 
Photographs,  engravings,  etc.,  5  ;  loans 
of,   to  schools,  23,  24;  use  of,  in 
class   and  exhibition  work  in  the 
Library,  35. 
Pierce,  Henry  L.,  member  of  Examin- 
ing Committee,  51. 
Placement    Bureau,    cooperates    with 
North  End  Branch  in  giving  Talks 
on  Vocations,  45,  46. 
Portuguese  and  Spanish  library.     See 

Ticknor  library. 
Prescott,  William  H.,  member  of  Ex- 
amining Committee,  51. 
Prince,  Rev.  Thomas,  his  library  de- 
posited in  Boston  Public  Library, 
32. 
Prince  library,  7,  32. 
Printing  Department,  6,  14. 
Proof  reading,  14. 
Ptolemy's  Cosmography,  9. 
Public  library,  first  in  America,  1. 
Public  Scliools.     See  Schools. 
Questions.     See  Inquiries. 
Reading    Rooms.     See   Branches   and 

Reading  Rooms. 
Real  estate  of  the  Library,  3. 
Registration  Department,  19. 
Repairs,  routine  of  authorization,  46, 

47. 
Reports  and  official  statements,  49. 


Revenue.     See  Income. 
Rice,  Alexander  H.,  member  of  Exam- 
ining Committee,  51. 

Salaries  of  Library  employees,  21,  48. 

Scholarship,  service  of  the  Library  to, 
30-34,  35,  56,  57. 

Schools,  cooperation  of  Library  with, 
22-26. 

Service,  gratuitous.  See  Gratuitous 
service. 

Shakespeareana,  collection  of.  See 
Barton  library. 

Shelf  Department,  19 ;  work  of,  in 
numbering  and  preparing  books 
for  the  shelves,  13,  14;  shelf-list- 
ing and  verifying  lists,  16. 

Spanish  and  Portuguese  library.  See 
Ticknor  library. 

Special  Libraries,  7,  17,  19,  32,  35. 

Staff,  size  of,  17 ;  extra  force  for  Sun- 
day and  evening  service,  17,  18 ; 
grades  of  service,  18. 

Standish,  Miles,  7. 

State  Prison,  Charlestown,  library  ser- 
vice at,  25. 

Statistical  Department.  See  Depart- 
ment of  Statistics  and  Documents. 

Story-telling,  in  Children's  Room,  42. 

Students,  use  of  Librarv  by,  31,  32,  35, 
38. 

Study  clubs.  Library  lends  pictures  to, 
25. 

Supervisor  of  Brandies  and  Reading 
Rooms,  20. 

Supplies,  purchase  and  distribution  of, 
46,  47. 

Thayer  library,  32. 

Theodore  Parker  library.     See  Parker 

library. 
Thomas,    Benjamin    F.,    member    of 

Examining  Committee,  51. 
Ticknor,  George,  member  of  Examin- 
ing Committee,  51. 
Ticknor  library,  32,  35. 
Time-book,  20. 


[ 


Todd,  William  C,  endows  Newspaper 
Room,  36. 

Town  House,  Boston.  See  Boston 
Town  House. 

Transportation  of  books  between  Cen- 
tral Library  and  Branches,  22. 

Treasurer,  City.     See  City  Treasurer. 

Trust  funds,  9;  income  from,  51,  52. 

Trustees,  appointment,  powers,  and 
duties  of,  2,  10,  46,  47,  49,  50,  52; 
service  given  without  compensa- 
tion, 61. 

Tuttle,  Lucius,  member  of  Examining 
Committee,  51. 


69] 

Union  laborers,  48. 
Vacations,  49. 

Vocations,  talks  on,  at  North  End 
Branch,  45,  46. 

Wages.     See  Salaries. 

Wagons,  daily  service  by,  to  Branches. 
See  Transportation. 

Wear  and  tear  of  books,  58,  59. 

Wright,  Carroll  D.,  member  of  Ex- 
amining Committee,  51. 

Winthrop,  Robert  C,  member  of  Ex- 
amining Committee,  51. 

Working  hours,  18,  22. 


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